Out on a Limb - Part 2
by Entangler
Summary: Part 2 of a 3 part story. Highly recommend you read part 1 first! He's learnt that petty crime doesn't pay... enough. So now Ace is ready to ramp up the stakes and pursue his plans to reap in the big bucks. Follow Cassie as she recalls the events of the last reckless and wild few years after being caught up in Ace's scheming and manipulative ploys to get 'whatever' he wants.
1. Part 2: Prologue

**Hi Everyone! Welcome to part 2! This is gonna be fun... I've got so much in store. Don't forget to add faves and follows for this story to ensure you get the email alerts when I post new chapters :) And let me know what you think of it as you read by leaving reviews. It'll motivate me to post new chapters faster (it really does!) Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy all my hard work :D**

**Part 2 - Prologue**

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The calendar tells me I've been living in this shack for two whole months. I only believe it because of the stack of pages filling up my tin. Boy, am I glad I decided to write. I'd be bordering insanity right now if I didn't have this to occupy my mind. We're literally in the middle of nowhere with a big forest behind us like this used to be an old hunting lodge or something. I'm here on my own most of the time, but Ace and Vince return every couple of weeks to check on me and top up my food supplies. It's minimal living out here, but I have all the basic necessities: outhouse, a sturdy fireplace in the center of the shack with old fashioned cooking pots and pans, and a small claw bathtub that I have to fill with water heated from the fire. There is a picturesque little stream nearby which is my water supply and also my favorite spot to sit and write.

To con Ace into bringing me a steady supply of paper and even a dictionary, I told him I've taken up poetry writing. Of course, Ace has no interest in reading poetry, but I wrote a couple (which are meaningless crap really) as a façade if he ever asks to look. After doing the household chores, I'll sit out by the stream and write all day long. Hearing the trickle of water running over the mossy rocks as I script out my life story is soothing. The whole experience of being out here away from civilization has been therapeutic. I already feel a change happening within me. I just feel… happier.

I haven't been this open and honest with myself in so long and it feels like a giant weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Ace certainly notices the change in me. When I hug him I sense he feels like he's got the old me back. He actually returned to me three times last week, alone, just because he missed me. And every time he had to leave he was reluctant to go. Now, that's saying something because before all of this shit went down it wasn't unusual for him to disappear for days without even leaving a note to say where he was going. But I knew where… deep down, I knew where.

So much good has come out of this simple exercise, and knowing that has helped me overcome some of the guilt I have for putting us out here in the first place. I'm sure Ace wouldn't see it that way though. No doubt, he'd still be furious with me if he ever found out he's been on a wild goose chase this whole time and that I knew all along. I still have some guilt, but I've needed this precious time away from the money, the cocaine, alcohol, everything. My mind is clear and when we finally get out of here I need to be strong enough to keep it that way. I can't go back until I've finished this. I can't live out there again until I'm healed.

So I'd better hurry. Ace hasn't found the culprit who framed him, but he's found someone just as good. I heard him and Vince whispering about it when I was pretending to be asleep. This person had been ripping Diego off for years before he disappeared into thin air. I didn't hear a specific name, but if I were a betting girl I'd put my money on Lewis. Ace has now made a deal with Diego to find Lewis and bring him in, in exchange for taking the hit off him.

I'm so anxious and excited at the same time. I sincerely hope that this plan will work. If it does then we can go home and I can take my secret to the grave. But if it doesn't… if they turn in Lewis and Diego goes back on his word, then chances are I'll be seeing that grave sooner rather than later.

* * *

**I thought I'd just take a moment to explain the Prologues in case there is any confusion about how they fit in with the rest of the story. They are set in Cassie's present day. She is writing them to recall the events leading up to her current situation (living out in the sticks). In part 2 you'll find out what went down and why Ace is being hunted by some notorious gang. The end of part 2 will meet up with the present day. Part 3 will tell what happens afterwards; Cassie will be writing these events as a daily journal. I hope that's now clear as mud, haha :)**


	2. Friend and Foe

**Hi everyone! For those who read the first version of part 2 and are looking below thinking... "hmmm, that chapter looks familiar... I already read that", you did... kind of.**

**I wasn't really happy with the way the events were playing out in part 2, and that's why I stopped and went right back to the start of part 1 to rewrite it. I think the storylines in part 1 are much more clear cut now and the story is progressing much more steadily. I'm now hoping to do the same for part 2. Yes, you'll see some parts that have been recycled, but a lot of it will be new. I'm thinking... 70-80% new. So, keep reading, I'll make it worth your while!**

* * *

**Friend and Foe**

Ace's eyes drifted down the length of my body and he slyly licked his bottom lip. He pushed off the pillar and then came to me slowly like he was stalking a fresh piece of meat. His hand slid under my jaw and he led me to turn 180, forcing me backwards until I could feel the warm metal of the coupe pressing against my spine. Then he leaned in close, his hot breath ticking my ear, making me shiver with arousal. "Told you you'd come around."

I let out a silent sigh of relief. My heart was pounding hard like I'd just had a near miss with death. Anyone would think it was absurd that I had to put my ass on the line to keep him, but I didn't care. I'd lost everyone else and I'd be dammed if I was gonna lose him too. Besides, I knew Ace's game. If I wanted to get close to him then I had to prove I was worthy of it. If I couldn't do that then I'd eventually mean no more to him than the countless girls before me. I couldn't have that. I wanted to stand out from the crowd. I wanted to be his everything and more. And if I had to break a few laws and morals to do it then so be it. Whatever I had to do to prove myself to him, I would.

"This calls for a celebration," he said, his lips still lingering close to my ear. His hands had slipped down the back of my shorts and were softly groping my bare skin. He pulled my hips snug into his as he pawed me, the slight rasp in his every exhale giving me the warm and fuzzies down below.

"You wanna go back to my place?" I asked. "Looks like you've got a full house."

"Nah. I'd rather just do you right here." Nerves rolled in my belly as his hands slid within the waistband of my shorts into the tight space between us and began working on undoing the buttons.

I knew what this was all about. I'd just sworn to trust him and now he was challenging me on it. He wanted to test my limits, to see how far he could push me before I broke. Well, I wasn't even gonna flinch. I was determined to show him that I had no limits.

In one swift motion I felt my shorts and panties skim my legs and rest in a pool around my ankles. Natural instinct told me to yank them back up again, but I held my ground, taking comfort in knowing that I was mostly hidden between Ace and coupe. I shivered as the light breeze wisped through the gap in my thighs, softly brushing against my most sensitive areas. It was strangely arousing to be so exposed while looking up at the highway, and to know that anyone could suddenly pull into the drive at any moment.

Ace's hands slid up my thighs and began soft circling sweeps of my body, travelling up my spine, under my singlet, over my hips and then down to my bum. His breaths deepened as every stroke became more urgent. I hung my arms loosely around his waist and closed my eyes to rest my head against his chest. Slowly, I found myself sinking into it, feeling the rhythm, becoming hypnotized by his touch. My hesitation melted away as I let myself relax in his protective arms.

But I shouldn't get too comfortable. Ace wouldn't be satisfied with just getting my pants off. He'd make go to the extreme and I knew it. My tummy went all a flutter with anticipation as if I were sitting on the lip of that first downward slope of a rollercoaster. It scared me so bad that it felt wickedly good.

His hands swooped up my spine, unhooked my bra and peeled both that and my singlet over my head. My abdomen throbbed as the intensity of the flutters grew like wildfire. Rushes of nervous excitement pulsated through me as every inch of skin became exposed. He gave me the slyest of grins as he briefly held me at length to slip everything down my arms and off. He loved me being vulnerable to him; that kinda thing turned him on. No other girl ever let him get away with this much and I took some pride in knowing that I let him live out his wildest desires.

I pressed myself into him again, feeling the warm sun on my back as ten fingers now clawed down the length of it. He growled softly in my ear, his heart pounding through me as he pulled me tighter against him with every stroke. One hand soon trailed across my hip as it roamed to my front, and the light brush of the warm breeze was replaced by two solid fingers and a thumb. I gasped at the touch, feeling myself soar to the edge of glory.

"Ace," I murmured between ragged breaths. "You are one kinky son-of-a-bitch."

He stifled a laugh. "Oh yeah? You're the one who loves being lathered in whipped cream."

"That was your idea," I chuckled into his shoulder, blushing at the memory.

"What about the maple syrup? Whose idea was that?"

OK, I admit it – sometimes I'm just as culpable. "So, I have a sweet tooth," I shrugged.

"I'd say so. You went through half the bottle."

"And you enjoyed every second of it," I shot back. I watched him through half-lidded eyes as I undid his belt. I popped the button of his jeans and then toyed with the zipper, slowly running it up and down while lewdly dragging my forefinger over the beast which was straining to be released from confinement. "But whose idea was it to do it in your front yard… in broad daylight… where anybody can see. Huh?"

"That was all your doing," he said in shortened breaths, his eyes drunk with lust.

I drew the zipper all the way down and slipped my whole hand in there, knowing exactly how to make the beast rage. "My doing? Why my doing?" I asked innocently.

"It's always your doing. You drive me fucking crazy." His lips pressed into mine with a fierce force of wanton lust and need. I almost tripped over the shorts around my ankles as he pushed me backward towards the front of the coupe before hoisting me up onto the rounded front fender. The pressure in my abdomen was so intense that I needed to burst. I ripped his T-shirt off over his head and then wrapped my bare legs around his waist, tucking him into me tight. With one single thrust from him I cried out to the open skies above. I came so hard I saw stars. My toes curled so tight they cramped. The simple idea of being so vulnerable and yet so safe in Ace's arms drove me out of my mind.

"Already?" he snickered. "Damn, I'm good."

In my condition, in my extremely hyped up physical state, all I managed to mutter was, "Faster."

He was only too happy to oblige. That boy gave it to me so hard little beads of sweat were dripping off his forehead and splashing down onto my chest. His face was beet red and the veins on the side of his head were protruding through his tanned skin. My hips were taking a beating as he gripped them, clutching and grabbing the skin as he used them to deliver two more of the most powerful orgasms that had ever torn through me plus one of his own. And even then I wanted more.

Time slowed. Adrenaline pumped through my blood stream. Risk, danger, the possibility of being caught in the act heightened every one of my senses, creating a type of thrill that could not be topped. My head was tossed back in a concentrated squint as he exploded for the second time, grunting out every curse and swear in the book. It was only then that he slowed down and let us descend from the incredible high, leaving us both exhausted and covered in a sheen of sticky sweat.

"And you call me insatiable," he panted, wiping his sweaty brow with the back of his hand.

I just sat there gazing at him through a thick cloudy haze of exhaustion, wearing my stupid grin with pride. Ace wasn't an easy man to master, but I was slowly learning how to handle him. Give him what he wants, keep him happy, and then reap the benefits. That's all I had to do to make this work. Sounded simple, but it came with an obvious downside. Don't give him what he wants, make him angry, and suffer the consequences.

* * *

**2**

Ace zipped himself up and tossed his T-shirt over his head before helping me down off the fender. "Spose you'll be wanting these back," he said, swiftly swiping my shorts and panties off the ground before I could grab them. He held them high above my head, out of my reach, mocking me with a shit-eating grin.

"Ace, come on…" I wearily rolled my eyes. "Haven't you had enough fun for one afternoon?"

He said nothing, his shit-eating grin holding steady. I took that as a no.

I bode time by dressing my upper half, giving him a sly evil-eye as I contemplated my next move. I chuckled at the thought to kick him in the nuts, but he'd probably never forgive me. So, instead I came up with a plan that should be just as effective. Putting on an innocent grin, I stepped up close and then promptly jabbed my knuckles into both sides of his ribs. He may be tough, but that don't mean he's not ticklish. He involuntarily twitched and lowered his arm just enough for me to jump up and swipe them back. With a joyous sense of victory, I laughed in his face before dashing away from him. He caught me easily around the waist and I squealed as he lifted me up off the ground. He held me with one arm, leaving the other free to attempt to pry my shorts from my tight grip. With one last hard yank he ripped them from my grasp and reveled with his own victory laugh, causing me to groan in defeat.

He finally let me down and pulled me in close to him by the wrist, handing me my clothes while planting a solid kiss on my lips. I was exhausted, but when I opened my eyes to see signs of lust still lingering in those stony blues, I knew I wasn't done.

"Why don't we grab that bottle of Southern Comfort I brought and lock ourselves in your room for the night?" I suggested.

He stifled a laugh. "Eyeball, Vince and both their girls are here. You'll be lucky if there's any left."

"But, that was for you and me!"

"So we'll send them out to get us more," he shrugged.

I pulled my pants on, thankful to finally feel whole again, and Ace landed a heavy slap on my right bum cheek to usher me towards the house. I frowned in thought as we walked. I was sure I'd met someone's girl before, but couldn't remember who. And then it dawned on me. "Oh no..." I halted, stopping us in our tracks. "Is one of the girls named Carol?"

"Yeah, something like that. Why?"

"Can't we go out and do something else? That chick don't shut up…"

"I've had worse," he snickered, pushing me forward, forcing me to walk. "Besides, it's my house. If we don't want them here we'll tell them to get lost."

The bottle I'd brought had vanished from the kitchen table, just as Ace predicted. The house was filled with Vince's voice booming over Eyeball's drunken slur as the two battled it out in some pointless argument. Ace strolled into the lounge and I reluctantly followed, bracing myself for the inevitable.

"Oh my God! Cassie!" And there it was, as expected. The dark blond's excited chirp killed the guys' bickering dead flat. The room literally went silent as all heads turned towards her sudden outburst. Perhaps the guys' arguing wasn't so bad after all.

I sat down next to Ace on the sofa directly opposite her and Eyeball, welcoming his arm as it wrapped around my waist to pull me in tightly beside him. "Hi. It's Carol, right?"

"Yeah! How are you?" she asked, her eyes wide with enthusiasm.

"Oh, I'm just fine and dandy," I exaggerated an excited voice while rolling my eyes over to Ace with an equally exaggerated smile.

"What?" he shrugged, mumbling through a cigarette he'd just pulled from the packet.

"Have you met Natalie?" Carol asked. "Her family owns the Blue Point Diner now. I heard you used to work there too!"

I glared at the dark haired beauty who was quietly tucked up under Vince's arm. So, this was the girl who now had my job. The girl whose family was literally ripping the guts out of my special place. After a wild start to the evening with Ace, just as I had settled myself into an optimistic space, I was ripped right back into the thick of those depressing personal issues. "Yeah… I did," I replied grimly.

"Hi," Natalie said shyly. Her big brown doe eyes smiled at me just as kindly as her cute little mouth which was placed flawlessly between her plump cheeks. With a sweet face like hers I could see why she'd been the topic of conversation a few times between the guys. She sure was pretty and she had a figure to be envied. Not that you could see much of it with her loose fitting dress covering everything but her ankles. A Catholic – that's what the guys said. A sweet little Catholic girl. How the hell did she end up with a loud mouth like Vince?

"So…" I cleared my throat. "I see the Diner's being renovated."

"Yes. We're modernizing it. My parents have a vision of turning it into the most popular eatery in town."

"Wow… that's great," I feigned a smile. Truth was, hearing that got my back up. The Blue Point Diner had _always_ been the most popular eatery in town. We didn't need the likes of her and her parents to come sailing in to save it. Just because the décor was old-fashioned didn't mean it was a failure. I would've challenged her mother to bake off against Rose and Violet any day, had it been possible.

"Natalie's family used to own a Diner in Santa Cruz, so they know just what to do," Carol chirped. "It's all so exciting! They're gonna have Café tables and a milk bar and they might even change the name. Isn't that neato?"

My heart sunk at hearing just how dramatic their plans were. "No, it's not 'neato'," I snapped. "You can't change the name, OK Natalie? You tell your parents that 'The Blue Point Diner' is iconic to this town. It has a perfect reputation for good food and changing the name would be a huge mistake."

"Oh OK, I'll tell them," Natalie said awkwardly, a little shocked at my outburst. She probably thought I was a complete loon for caring so much. Everyone in the room probably thought I was a loon. They were all sure giving me funny looks that suggested so. Everyone except Ace.

"So you moved from the beaches of Santa Cruz to this shit hole?" he asked. "What the fuck for?"

The accusatory tone in Ace's voice turned Natalie's face a deep shade of red. She cowered inwardly like a small puppy being scolded. Ace meant no offense, that's just the way he is, but she wasn't used to being talked to so harshly.

"Well? Why the fuck are you here?"

"Ace, lower your tone a bit," I said softly, rubbing him on the knee. Needless to say, I got a rather rigid sideways glance in return.

"Well," she cleared her throat, "my parents wanted us children – that is, my twin brother and I – to get away from the bad influences of a big city and out into the fresh wholesome air of a small town."

Everyone else in the room, even Carol cracked a laugh. Natalie couldn't have found a worse group of influences to sit among if she tried.

"As long as your parents are thinkin' that, that's all that matters, ain't it?" Eyeball said supportively. He held her gaze for a moment and she went an even deeper shade of red for reasons unknown. "So, who wants another drink?" He picked up the remainder of my bottle and began to pour into the glasses spread around the table.

"Definitely," I muttered, grabbing a glass from the stack Eyeball had brought in from the kitchen. When it comes to alcohol that guy suddenly becomes extremely efficient.

"You want one this time, Natalie?" he asked her.

"No thank you," she said quaintly. "My parents would probably smell it on me." And then, as if to explain to Ace and I she added, "They're very erm… strict."

"They're major bible bashers," corrected Vince.

"Vince!" exclaimed Carol.

"No, it's OK," Natalie said. "Vince is right. They're beyond just 'being religious' like normal folks. They're very strict on being 'proper'."

Eyeball set a glass down in front of her and cracked a persuasive smile. "You sure? One drop ain't gonna do nothin'."

She looked to Vince for advice, but he was too interested in downing his own glass to care. "Well, OK then," she said with a little girl giggle. "Maybe just the one."

"That'a girl," he praised her, giving her the lion's share of what was left.

"You owe me a bottle Eyeball," I said before taking a swig of the spicy liquid from my glass.

"No sweat, I got a bottle of Forester in my car."

"If you've got a bottle, why'd you drink all mine?"

"Maybe I would've if you and Ace hadn't been out there gettin' busy," he smirked.

It was my turn to blush and cower. Ace, on the other hand, grinned proudly. "Best fuck yet, huh baby?" I must've shrunk to the size of a small toy.

Eyeball retrieved his bottle of Forester from his car, and an hour and three drinks each later the six of us had polished it off.

Natalie was past being tipsy. She'd giggle uncontrollably at Carol who got louder and louder as she knocked each drink back like she was quenching a dire thirst. I tried to keep a happy front, but couldn't stop thinking about my earlier conversation with her. I resented the arrogant attitudes of her parents, bursting into this town like they knew what was best for it. On top of that, Vince and Eyeball found endless topics to argue about and Carol's over-excited voice just drove me up the wall. I fidgeted with Ace's zippo to pass the time, but he kept taking it off me every five minutes and telling me off for using up all his lighter fluid. After a while I couldn't take it anymore.

"I need some fresh air," I grumbled, abruptly standing and heading down the hall. I intended to sit out the back for a while, but stopped in my tracks when I passed Ace's room. My little packet of joy. He'd stolen it. I wanted it back.

But I didn't find it. After going through all his stuff, checking every possible hiding place, I did it all over again just in case I'd missed a spot. There was none in the compartment under his floorboards, none under his mattress, none anywhere. After a third anxious search, I reluctantly headed back out empty handed.

The hinges on the back door had rusted so badly it made a loud whining sound as I pulled it open. I stooped down on the edge of the low porch, trying to block out the voices from inside. I just needed some time alone to calm myself down and ride out my irritability.

"Do you mind if I join you?" came Natalie's voice behind me, with a hiccup.

_Ugh… yes._ "Not at all," I replied.

She sat down beside me with her long dress nearly scraping the dirt at our feet.

"Carol's erm… very excitable isn't she?" she said lowly, so as not to be overheard.

"That she is."

"I mean, she's really nice… but really…"

"Full on," I muffled a laugh.

"Yes. Full on." Natalie gazed at me in wonder. I could see her in my peripheral vision, analyzing me as I stared out into the grassy back yard. "Cassie, I'm sorry about what happened with the Diner," she said softly. "I'm sorry that it had to be sold and that you lost your job. I can understand why you'd be upset with my family and I for making all these changes to it, and I will tell them not to change the name. I'll try to make them understand…"

_Shit._ I felt like a real bitch right then. Natalie seemed so sweet and here I was acting like she'd personally fired me from my job. "No… I'm not upset with you," I sighed. "I'm upset with… life. Everything and everyone I've ever been attached to, I've lost. Ace is all I have left and we haven't exactly had a perfect track record. It's just… life seems to be a constant struggle for me."

I felt Natalie's consoling hand rest on my shoulder. "I heard that your parents passed away," she said softly. "I'm really sorry. That must've been terrible."

"It was just my mom's death that I had to deal with. My dad died when I was really young and I can't remember much about him. But life before mom died wasn't easy either."

"I'm sorry to hear that. But…" she sighed, "in some small way I envy you."

"You can't be serious…"

"I don't mean to sound disrespectful… but… well… what I mean is, I envy that you're free to live life as you want to live it. You don't have anyone to enforce silly rules on you. Nobody tells you to be home by seven, tells you to say stupid prayers before every bite you eat, and nobody grounds you severely for every small mistake you make."

I raised an eyebrow to hear a Catholic girl call prayers 'Stupid'. It sparked some interest in her. Just what was this girl's deal? She'd told us all about how strict her parents are and yet she's out here at Ace's place getting drunk with her loud mouth boyfriend. I was suddenly eager to learn more about this quiet, mysterious girl.

"But I also don't have anyone to teach or guide me," I said. "I always used to think parents were overrated until there came a time in my life when I needed them the most… and they weren't there. So, appreciate what you've got."

"Oh, I do appreciate them. I just wish they weren't so… strict. My parents are devout Catholics and they expect me to act a certain way, live a certain way, believe in certain things, but I don't think that's right. Am I just crazy, or is that not right, Cassie?"

"Well, if you're asking for my opinion, I think people should live how they want to live, sure. It's being happy that's important. But when you're young, you need boundaries or you…" I was going to say, _end up like me_, but then decided on, "…might run off the rails."

"I know," she sighed. "I'm just tired of feeling like the crazy one in my household. My brother does anything my parents say without even questioning whether it makes sense. He's like a sheep. He follows the rest of the herd while I'm struggling to wander through them all in the opposite direction."

_Wow_, I thought to myself. The phrase, 'Never judge a book by its cover' had never seemed so appropriate. After such a short chat my opinion of her had taken a complete reverse turn. I found myself intrigued by her personality and felt quite proud of her for being able to question things while being so repressed.

"You're not crazy," I assured her, staring firmly into her big brown doe eyes. "It sounds to me like you're the smart one."

"I just… want some room to breathe. I want to find out who I am. It's so hard to do that when I'm hardly allowed to leave the house."

"You're here now though…"

"That's only thanks to Carol. She helps me get out to do things. Before we moved here I only ever left the house to go to church and run errands for the Diner. My parents were far too worried about something bad happening to me or my brother to let us stray too far. But they've relaxed a lot since we've moved here. I'm finally allowed to have a friend who I actually like, not just those they set me up with. Of course, if they found out how much Carol lies to her parents they'd never let me see her again. And as for Vince, well… they'd never approve."

"So, what is it about Vince that attracts you to him? Is it the feeling of rebelling against your parents? Or do you genuinely like him?"

"I guess you could call it rebellion, but I also wanna try new things. I've never had a guy who liked me before."

"So, you really like him back then?"

She bit the corner of her lip and sighed deeply while staring out towards the overgrown mass of trees which lined the perimeter of Ace's back yard. "Vince is… OK."

"Just OK?"

Glancing back at me, she opened her mouth a little and frowned like she was about to ask me a serious question, but then hesitated, sighed again and looked back out towards the trees. This girl had a lot weighing on her mind.

"Listen, if you ever need someone to talk to… about absolutely anything, you can come to me. I know we've only just met, and you probably think I'm a bitch after before, but my friends always used to say I give the best advice."

"Thank you," she smiled, the corners of her lips disappearing deep into the crevices of her plump cheeks. "And I don't think you're a… b…bad person. You're just in a bad space right now and I understand."

"Forgive me if you will, but I still feel bad. I'm not usually like that. I don't know what came over me."

"I know. I can tell you're a good person Cassie."

* * *

**3**

Our conversation was suddenly interrupted by a loud rapping on the front door. I twisted around, glancing behind me to see if I could recognize the shape through the pressed glass – the back door, hallway door and front door all align perfectly so you can see straight through.

"I should probably see who that is," I muttered. "Ace doesn't seem to be answering it." After wanting so desperately to be alone, I was disappointed for our little chat to come to an end. I hadn't had a heart-to-heart like that with someone in a long time and never with a complete stranger. I felt like a massive weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I felt at ease with her like I could confide in her in confidence. She was just that easy to talk to.

Unfortunately, all her good work in calming me down was about to be undone.

Just as I stepped through the back door Ace casually wandered into the kitchen from the lounge and swung open the front door.

"Hey Ace, I'm ba-ack," said a small petite blond thing as she happily slid her arms around my man's waist, pulling him in tight for a hug. "I missed you so much."

"What the hell do you want?" he muttered as her mop of blond hair pressed against his chest.

Startled to hear the bitterness in his voice, she leaned back to glare at him. "What's the matter? I thought you'd be happy to see me…"

"Hey, the Blond Boomerang's back, hahaha," laughed Eyeball as he drunkenly trudged to the refrigerator to grab a beer.

"She was just leaving…" Ace said, peeling her arms from around his waist.

"But… I don't understand. What's going on?"

"You mean you haven't heard? I thought with your network of gossiping bitches word would've spread fast."

By now, I'd mindlessly floated up the hallway, fixated on the mysterious blond who'd been clutching my man's waist like it was her favorite snuggly toy. I stopped at the kitchen table in some kind of inquisitive daze, sizing her up from head to toe.

The first thing you noticed was her size; she was small and petite. She didn't even reach Ace's shoulders. I'm sure she would've been born premature or something. She was well groomed in a dark blue sleeveless dress that sat well above the knees to show off her milky white legs, and she wore matching blue Mary Jane's. But her most distinctive feature was her eyes. They were sleepily seductive and so light blue that they were barely distinguishable from the whites. I could see how any guy who stared into those could be strung along.

Once those sleepy blues noticed me standing there they went as wide as dinner plates. By now I'd guessed who she was, and somehow she knew damn well who I was too. "This isn't fair!" she stamped her foot in a spoilt child-like tantrum.

"That's life kiddo," Ace shrugged. "See ya round." He took one step backwards and carelessly swung the door closed in her face.

The handle turned and the door immediately swung open again. Sarah isn't one to give up so easily. When she wants something, she expects to get it.

"No. This isn't fair," she demanded. "You can't be with her; we only just got back together!"

"What?" Ace glared at her.

"We did! Two weeks ago, just before I went to stay with Grandma!"

"Sarah, I never said we were back together."

"But you didn't have to! I mean we… we–"

"So you got one last fuck outta me," he shrugged. "Be happy about it."

At that moment the bathroom door opened and Carol came bustling down the hall into the kitchen. "What's the problem here?" she asked, putting her fists on her hips like Superman ready to save the day.

"_That_ over there is the problem," Sarah pointed a firm finger in my direction.

I'd been quite happy to keep my mouth shut, to observe and to let Ace fight his own battles, but now she'd brought me into it. Her choice, not mine.

"You might want to watch your tone…" I told her firmly.

Ace folded his arms and sat back on his heels with an amused grin and Eyeball joined him at his side. "Looks like we've got a bitch fight brewing here boys."

"My money's on the blond," Vince called from the sofa.

"Fuck up Vince," I called back. I then realized Natalie was standing right behind me. "Oh, sorry Natalie."

"Ooh, she's got a potty mouth honey," Sarah said to Ace, staring me up and down, noting every flaw she could possibly find. "Not very ladylike."

"Oh, there are plenty of things I could say to you that are _very_ unladylike. All you need to do is tempt me."

"You might think you can just walk out of the gutter and step into my shoes, but you can't," she said. "You'll never be to Ace what I was to him."

"From the way he just slammed the door in your face, I'd say that's a good thing."

Sarah's eyes became two slits as they narrowed at me and her thin lips screwed up tight with despise. She was breathing so hard her shoulders rose and fell with every intake as her fists hung bunched at her sides. It was like having Satan's child on the front porch. The names _do_ appear strikingly similar…

"Don't act like _you're_ so perfect," she seethed. "I know what you did, you tramp."

The sharp word hit my ears, making me flinch. Truth hurts I guess. Ace would've told her all about what happened with Keith, and although I didn't think that qualified me as a full blown tramp, I couldn't deny what had happened.

"I'd never do such a disgraceful thing to him," she continued. "We're good together, Ace and I. And I'll bet it won't be long before he wants me back."

"You're deluded. Do you know what Ace said to me the first time I asked about you? He said he never liked you from the day he met you."

It was Sarah's turn to flinch. Truth hurts I guess.

"Ladies!" Carol's stepped in. "Let's all just calm down and talk this through. Here, why don't we all sit down at the table and talk about this like good mannered folks." Carol took a seat but Sarah and I stood our ground and continued to glare at each other from opposite sides of the table.

If we hadn't had that big solid hunk of wood between us the guys surely would've been cheering on a physical bitch fight very soon. But I'd had enough. I wanted her out of my sight and I knew the most satisfying way to make that happen.

"I think Ace has made it pretty clear who he wants." I gave her a fraction of a smile, holding her gaze with a conniving glint in my eye. I stepped around the table to where Ace was standing and slid my arm around his waist.

Ace snickered at my conduct before slipping his hand into the back pocket of my shorts. The sly stud was enjoying being fought over; I could tell. But that was fine with me. I was just happy to know that he had my back.

Sarah's eyes went red with rage at the sight of us together. Vengeance never felt so good. She realized that throwing insults around and threatening to slander my name wouldn't be enough to make Ace see things differently and they sure weren't gonna scare me off. But she refused to walk away without one last crack at it getting her way.

Her eyebrows arched upward in a piteous frown and her bottom lip began to tremble. Tears streamed from her eyes on cue like a practiced master. I shook my head thinking, _wow_.

"Ace, how can you do this to me?" she burbled through her tears. "After all I've done for you. After everything we've been through together!"

"Be careful what you say here, Sarah," he warned.

I glared at him, baffled about why he would say such a thing. Had she done something specific for him? If so, what?

"You're going to need me," she pleaded. "I can help you!"

Ace left my side and stepped up close to her, towering over her petite height. "What did I just say?" he growled at her.

"Be careful…" she said softly.

"Now you listen to me." Ace kept walking as he talked, stepping into her, forcing her backwards until she'd been shunted back out the door. "As much as you want me to need you, I don't and I never will. Now, stop playing the victim, pull your head in and keep your mouth shut. You got it?"

"Uh-huh," she sniffed.

"Good."

Sarah opened her mouth to argue her case some more before Ace slammed the door in her teary face.

He looked at me and then he looked Carol. Both of us had huge question marks on our faces, but neither of us were about to ask those questions. "Am I gonna have a problem with you?" he asked Carol.

"This doesn't concern me…" she replied. She may act dizzy, but nothing about that conversation had gone over her head. Something dodgy was going on and she knew it but wisely turned a blind eye.

Ace then walked over to Natalie who was leaning against the kitchen wall with her head down, staring at the floor and keeping a low profile. As soon as he had his back turned, Carol slipped out the door. She had too much heart to let Sarah deal with all of this on her own. Ace touched Natalie's chin and raised her timid gaze to him. He didn't need to say words for her to get the message; just one look from him was enough. He knew she wasn't a threat anyway.

"Cassie," he called me over his shoulder. "Get in the car. We're going for a drive."

I gave Natalie a congenial wave goodbye and then did as I was told. As we left the house I'd expected to see Carol and Sarah outside, but they were nowhere in sight.

Ace decided to take the '49, and we turned right out the driveway to head into town. In the near distance we could see the two girls walking, one with a consoling arm around the other. I hated Sarah, without a shadow of a doubt. But I also felt empathetic towards her. I knew from experience that Ace can be a bastard. He'd clearly used her to get whatever it was he wanted and then carelessly tossed her aside when he was done. The question in my head was, why was Sarah so useful to him that he'd even go out with her despite his obvious dislike of her?

"Let's give them a ride," I suggested to Ace.

"No can do."

"Why not?"

"Cos we ain't goin' to town. We've got business to take care of."

We sped past them and I felt a pang of guilt as they soon became distance dots behind us.

We took a left about a quarter mile north of town and headed east along another main road, out into the countryside. There were a few more turns before we took a hard left into a dusty driveway and climbed our way up its steep hill. As we came over the rise, I recognized where we were. Markus's place.

* * *

**Everyone tells me they like the drama Sarah brings to the story. I've been thinking hard about how I can give her character more purpose, rather than have her make an occasional appearance just to be a bitch. I have a good idea about how to do this, so we'll see how it plays out :D**

**Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think!**

**Thanks for the review CastleRockGirl - your kind words are much appreciated :)**


	3. Eyes on the Prize

**Eyes on the Prize**

* * *

We parked up outside Markus's trailer and Ace killed the engine to silence. I was so nervous my stomach hurt. My first visit was anything but welcomed by Markus and I didn't expect this one to go any smoother. He'd made it very clear that he didn't want me as part of their operation, and even clearer that he didn't like the way Ace was trying to manipulate him into changing his mind.

But Ace wouldn't let any of that deter him. According to him, they needed me for this more than Markus was willing to admit.

"Let me do the talking, OK?" Ace said as we climbed out of the car.

"More than happy with that." My plan was to hide behind him with my head down like I didn't exist.

We entered the workshop and all we could see of Markus was his greasy jeans stuck out from underneath the furthest car as he lay on a creeper. Not realizing we were there, he continued singing away to the very loud radio as it played, "Who do you love?" by Bo Diddley. With a crafty smirk, Ace turned it down and we got a solo of the chorus from Markus just before he realized the music had gone quiet.

"Who's fucking with my radio?" he called out rigidly. We then heard the tinker of tools being dropped onto the concrete floor before the greasy jeaned legs rolled their owner out from under the car. He gave me a dull look when he saw me, evidence that he was no closer to agreeing to letting me in. "You don't give up do you?" he mumbled to Ace, rising from his creeper.

"Well, who else have you got then?"

"Dean…" Markus scratched the back of his neck, indicating a touch of indecision.

"Dean's a shifty little fuck who I've got about as much trust for as a psycho with a gun pointed at my head. Face it Markus. This area has a major shortage of viable guys."

"What about your boys? Let's bring another one of them in."

"Who? Charlie? Billy? Those two couldn't keep a secret if their lives depended on it. Jack and Fuzzy, maybe in a couple of years but they're just not ready yet. This ain't signing guys up for the little league team. We need someone solid, reliable and trustworthy that can do the job every time without a hitch."

Markus folded his arms and stared at me with a patronizing glare. "And... you think she's all of that? Come on, Ace," he scoffed. "She's a chick for fuck's sake!"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" I piped up. Just being in Markus's presence made me nervous, I don't deny it, but his constant put-downs were really beginning to tick me off.

"Chicks don't do shit like this," he answered. "Chicks are for cooking and cleaning and looking after the household. I just can't believe you've got Ace so pussy-whipped that he'd be willing to take such a massive risk."

Ace took a hard swallow as he struggled to restrain himself from grabbing Markus by the collar and pinning him up against the nearest tool cabinet. Markus is about the only person in the world that Ace will let talk to him like that. But it goes both ways. Everybody knows that speaking to Markus in the wrong tone could lose you a finger, but Ace pushes that limit and gets away with it all the time. It's kind of a mutual understanding between the two.

But that mutual understanding did not extend to me. Those two could turn the other cheek for each other as much as they pleased, but I wouldn't let this go so easily. I was shocked by Markus's complete lack of consideration for my feelings and I just had to put him in his place. Tactfully of course.

"Do you know what I can't believe?" I said. "That you'd really think Ace would compromise this operation for some stray girl. I mean, how stupid do you really think he is? I've just gone through months of his trials and tests, without even knowing it, while he's been deciding on whether I've got what it takes for this shit. And you know what? He thinks I do. And because _he_ thinks I can do it, I _can_ do it. Come on Markus, you're his business partner. Don't tell me that I trust him more than you do…"

Markus followed my every word carefully, his round blues looking me up and down like he was finally beginning to take the proposition seriously. He looked to Ace for a moment, realizing that I had a point; he trusted Ace with his life. "This isn't five-finger discounting at the local stationary shop. Are you really sure you can handle this?"

"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't." In trying to convince Markus, I had dissolved any last hang-ups of my own. Within those few precious minutes I had gained a new belief in myself; I _could_ do this.

And plus, I wanted to prove the chauvinistic bastard wrong.

"She'll need some training," Ace added, "but she'll be every bit as good as I was, without a doubt."

Markus let out a deep decisive breath. "OK. We're doing a run tonight, but I guess you won't be ready for that, so Sunday's gonna be your night. You've got one shot," he pointed a firm finger in my face. "And if you even come close to fucking it up, you're out."

"That's fair enough."

I suppressed my satisfied smile until Ace and I were outside, headed back to the car.

"Nice job," he said, cloaking his arm around my shoulders and kissing me on the temple.

"Just tell me that you can have me ready in four days."

"Four days is plenty of time."

A little voice was screaming out at the back of my mind saying, _Have you gone madly insane?_ But I managed to suppress that too. I didn't think about the job or the crazy things I would have to do to succeed. My eyes were purely on the prize. I pictured myself at the finishing line, driving the flashiest, most expensive car I could find into the garage and rubbing it in Markus's face. I'd show him just how wrong he was about me.

* * *

**2**

I hadn't been good with mornings lately. My sleeping patterns were way off the norm and getting up before noon wasn't easy. But the morning after Markus had given me the go-ahead for a trial run, I was up before the sun had even peeked through the curtains. Ace was just as keen to get started and forwent his morning lay in favor of eating a good breakfast, courtesy of me. I'll give Markus that; I make a pretty good omelet, if I do say so myself.

The sun was still rising as we went outside into Ace's backyard. He battled to get the rusty hinged doors of the shed open to reveal the two polished and primed beauties that slumbered inside: the black '51 Lincoln and the deep purple '38 Dodge pickup. I melted at the sight of the Dodge. Ace had previously offered to sell it to me for three grand and as far as I was concerned, that deal was still on. So that left the Lincoln as my test dummy for the week.

Ace drove the big black beast out onto the lawn behind the house. This would keep our activities hidden from the highway. He locked the door of the Lincoln behind him with the key and then tucked it away in his pocket. After slumping into a deck chair on the back porch he glanced at the wrist watch he'd worn and then reached for his packet of cigarettes.

"Get into it," he instructed.

"That's your wise advice? 'Get into it'?"

"Let's see how fast you can get it open."

"Fine," I sighed. With my trusty lock-picks in hand I bent down to inspect the lock. For some reason I'd been expecting the locks on car doors to be different to the ones on buildings. I had anticipated having to learn a whole new mechanism. But when I inserted my tension wrench and pick, it felt just like a regular pin-tumbler lock.

"What are you bending down like that for?" Ace called from the sideline. "Don't you think that's gonna be just a little bit suspicious?"

"I'm just getting a feel for it!" I said defensively. "I have to see what I'm dealing with here…"

Ace let me be for a while as I began my attempts at picking the lock. But only a while. After a couple of minutes he was on my back again. "What are you doing? Are you gonna get this thing open or not?"

"Geez, cut me some slack! It's been a while you know…"

"Obviously. You're too fucking slow!"

"Can you just shut up and let me do it?" I turned my attention back to the lock, now more determined than ever. After a couple more wriggles I managed to get the pins up and successfully turned my tension wrench all the way. "See? Told you," I huffed, opening the door as proof.

"That was three minutes. You're gonna have to do better than that. Much better."

_Three minutes, damn._ That sounded like a personal best.

I relocked the door from the inside and continued on. An hour passed as I picked the lock over and over again, improving my time down to a minute flat, but that still wasn't good enough for Ace. Easy for him to say. He was relaxing in the shade with a box of beers while I had to endure the dry heat of the sun which was already blazing at 8am.

"One minute ten," he called, relaxing back with his hands behind his head. "Still not good enough."

"What time are you aiming for?" I asked irritably.

"Ten seconds."

"Ten seconds! I can't do it in ten seconds!"

"You can and you will. Unless you think you've got the strength to snap the pins with a screwdriver…"

"Huh?"

"Just quit your pissin' 'n moaning and get it done."

The sun rose overhead and really began to beat down on me as I continued picking the lock over and over. I might've been whining like a brat at the time, but it was that dedicated practice that led me to discovering the raking technique. Raking was nothing short of a life savior. Whipping the pick out of the lock a couple of times would set most of the pins, leaving only one or two for me to pick individually. I designed some new tools and got Ace to make them for me, replacing the pieces of scrap metal I'd been using. By the time we'd perfected those, I was sure I'd be close to my goal time.

"Watch the clock," I told Ace, suppressing my excitement.

He stood next to me with one eye on his watch and the other on the lock. "Go."

Rake, rake, rake, set, set. "Done."

"That was six seconds," he grinned. "Good job."

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" I jumped around in circles like all my Christmases had come at once. I felt so proud of myself. Of course, I was well used to this lock now and others would be different, so I wasn't getting too cocky. But that was good progress for now.

"Don't get too happy, you ain't done yet. Now get back into it and do it again."

"Do what again?" a pitchy little girl's voice came from behind us.

Ace and I whipped around in unison to see that the Little Blonde Boomerang was back. She was casually leaning against the corner of the house, twirling a long blonde lock around her forefinger. Hell knows how long she'd been standing there for. She'd probably seen everything.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Ace cursed at her, pissed that she'd breached our privacy.

"I needed to see you."

I rolled my eyes. Was her showing up out of the blue looking for pity gonna be a regular thing, or what?

"I'm busy. Piss off."

"But, I have something important to tell you."

Ace stopped for a moment, cocking a slight eyebrow as he reconsidered. "Go on then. What is it?"

Sarah shot me a haughty look, hoping to dig her nails into me with her next words. "Only you," she told him.

"Anything you say to me you can say in front of Cass. Now what is it?"

"Uh-uh. This is only for you."

"Ace…" I sighed, rubbing my hand over the back of his jean covered thigh. "Just let her have her way. I'll be inside, waiting for you in the shower." I shot Sarah a haughty look of my own, digging my nails right under her skin.

We didn't meet in the shower, however. I was well and truly done by the time Sarah left and Ace came inside. I had watched the end of their conversation through Ace's bedroom window, observing them closely as I sat on the edge of his bed and towel-dried my hair. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but Ace was leaning back against the Lincoln, nodding his head grimly like she'd just broken some bad news.

"Everything OK?" I asked him when he wandered into the room.

He paused for a moment and then said, "Never better."

The sarcasm was obvious and I admit I was curious, but I kept quiet. I wanted nothing to do with Sarah and that included hearing about whatever shit she was stirring. I figured she'd dreamed up something petty to get at me, and I refused to give her the satisfaction of taking an interest in it. Besides, if I was wrong and there was something important going on that I should know about then Ace would tell me… wouldn't he?

* * *

After the morning's successes, my enthusiasm was high. I'd found a few padlocks among the crap in Ace's garage and had spent a few hours picking them to get some variety in my diet. Every lock is different and I needed to broaden my experience as much as possible. The more I practiced, the more confident I became about being ready to make Markus eat his words by Sunday.

Yes, _I_ was keen to continue with the training, but Ace's mind seemed to be elsewhere. He'd barely said a word to me since his conversation with Sarah and that bugged me even more than her coming around. By mid-afternoon I was becoming anxious that my training wasn't progressing fast enough. We had three and a bit days left and all I'd learnt to do was speed-pick a lock.

When the anxiousness got to me enough I went out the front to where Ace was fidgeting with the engine under the hood of his '49. "Whatcha doing?" I asked him, wrapping my arms around his waist for a quick squeeze.

"Just checking my cambelt. It's due for a change."

"Oh. Do you think maybe we can get back to the training soon? I was hoping you could show me some more things on the Lincoln before it gets dark. Besides… I need a break from picking locks," I grinned at him with a light-hearted laugh.

Ace stared at me for a moment, his face blank and unpredictable. My smile faded. Had I done something wrong? Was he about to go ballistic at me and this was the calm before the storm?

"What have I done?" I asked softly, bracing myself for a lecture.

Ace let out a deep exhale and slung his arm around my neck, pulling me in to kiss me on the temple. "Nothing baby. You're doing everything just fine."

"Then what's the matter?" Whether this had arisen from Sarah's shit-stirring or not I was starting to become extremely concerned.

"I gotta go out for a bit." Ace abruptly left my side and lowered the hood before climbing into the car, clunking his heavy door behind him.

I leaned down to rest my elbows on the door, my concerned frown clearly conveying my worries. "Can I ask where?"

"I've gotta talk to Markus. I won't be long." He took a second to wink at me for reassurance before reversing up the drive and taking off down the highway.

The sun was sitting on the horizon by the time he got back. He waltzed into the kitchen where I was peeling some potatoes over the sink. His boots clopped on the wooden floorboards behind me as he approached and I soon felt the warming feeling of his arms creeping around my waist.

"Feel like Shepherd's Pie for dinner?" I asked.

His lips brushed against my neck and he kissed into it, sending blissful waves rippling down the entire right side of my body. "Why don't we have some dessert first?" He slipped the knife from my hand and dropped it in the sink before picking me up to carry me into the bedroom.

Whatever had been distracting him all afternoon had definitely passed, but now I was the one with distracted thoughts. I lay like a mannequin underneath him, straining my brain to figure out what Sarah could've possibly said that would cause him to withdraw like that. Even more curious, why would he have to visit Markus to regain peace of mind?

"Ace," I said when he rolled off me half an hour later, "you'd tell me if something was wrong, right?"

He glanced over at me and reached to stroke my chin. "There's nothing wrong, baby. And I don't want you to worry, OK," he told me firmly. "You need to keep your head in this. You need to stay focused. And I'll teach you some more stuff tomorrow."

"OK," I grinned, snuggling up beside him, satisfied with that answer for now. "What are you gonna teach me?"

"Hot-wiring."

* * *

**3**

The next morning, Ace seemed to be back to his regular self, and pulled me out to the Lincoln for more training as promised. He opened the driver's side door and gestured me to sit. "Practice picking that," he said, pointing to the ignition. "It'll be a pin-tumbler lock, the same as the one on the door."

I slid into the soft, white, marshmallow like interior. I inserted my tools into the ignition and, sure enough, managed to start and stop the engine by picking it using my regular techniques.

"Now," Ace said, handing me a small flathead screwdriver, "if for any reason you can't do it that way, you can always use one of these."

"Erm… OK." That hadn't been my plan at all. If found I couldn't do it, my plan was to get out of the car and hightail it. But perhaps knowing alternative ways would be beneficial. I did the obvious thing and stuck the flathead into the ignition and tried to turn it.

After some straining to snap the pins (which was what Ace mentioned the day before) he took a knee beside me and pointed to the screws that held the steering panel on. "Unscrew those."

I unscrewed all that I could see and Ace wedged the panel off to expose the ignition cylinder and the wires running to it.

"OK. Red's typically your power, brown's your starter." He then flicked his switchblade from his back pocket and cut the red wires before stripping back the plastic casing. "Always wear gloves for this," he warned me, but then failed to comply with his own rule. He twisted the red wires together with his bare fingers, bringing the dashboard alive along with the radio.

"What was that about gloves?" I smirked at him.

"I don't want you getting electrocuted, baby."

"Aw, that's sweet of you," I laughed with a hint of sarcasm. Never mind putting me at risk of ending up in jail…

"Anyway… there's your power. Now you do the browns."

I copied his previous moves, cutting the wires and stripping the plastic casing just a fraction.

"Now touch them together and give it a bit of gas," he said.

I touched the wires and couldn't believe it when the engine actually started. I pressed my foot on the accelerator, just enough to be rewarded with the gentle purr of the big beast's engine.

"Don't keep 'em together; you just need to complete the circuit for a second – just like turning a key."

"OK, I think I can handle that…"

"And if you've only got one brown wire, touch it to the power."

"How do I turn it off?"

"Pull the power wires apart…"

"Oh… right." Sure enough, I tried it and the engine instantly died.

As I watched Ace wrap insulation tape around the wires to set them back to normal, I kept thinking to myself, _I'm never gonna need to know this._ How wrong I was. It's funny actually; I had learnt this skill for completely selfish and devious reasons and yet, in the end… it saved my life.


	4. Burning for Revenge

**Burning for Revenge**

* * *

It was Saturday night, 24 hours before I would be venturing out on the biggest mission of my life. I was feeling very confident with my lock-picking skills now, but there was still a lot more to learn. Getting the car open and started was one thing, but doing the job swiftly without raising suspicions was another. That was not something that could be taught in a secluded backyard. For this, Ace would be taking me out in the field to demonstrate the necessary steps and precautions. It was my turn to watch from the sidelines as he stole a car… for real.

'Don't shit in your own nest' was the golden rule; that meant we had to choose a town outside of Castle Rock to boost from. Ace flipped a coin and Chamberlain became our chosen destination. We'd drive the Lincoln there, and then Ace would acquire a new vehicle to drive back to Markus's while I tailed him for the return journey. I'd never been to Chamberlain before and voiced my concerns about being separated. The last thing I wanted was to get lost in an unfamiliar town. He told me he'd wait for me on the outskirts, but that didn't give me total peace of mind. If something happened and he had to leave quickly, then I'd be left behind. The easiest solution seemed to be to take notes.

During the 40 mile drive from Castle Rock to Chamberlain, I wrote down highway numbers, road names and landmarks, hoping that it would be enough. The most memorable of those landmarks came about a mile after the "Welcome to Chamberlain" sign. We were sitting at a set of traffic lights right on the edge of town when I noticed a pair of massive wrought iron cemetery gates. The ancient-looking gates were impressive enough, but the stone lion statues sitting high on pillars at either side were simply exquisite.

I felt a chill go down my spine as I looked upon the gravestones beyond the gates, illuminated in the moonlight. Ray Brower would've been laid to rest in there; he was from Chamberlain. Ray Brower was the kid who had been hit by a train out by the Back Harlow Road nearly a year earlier. What's sad is that The Cobra's and Chris's gang of friends had been eager to use the discovery of his body as their claim to fame, and yet I knew that not one of them had ever been to that graveyard to visit.

It was around 10:30pm when we hit the town center. Chamberlain was a much larger town than Castle Rock. It was overwhelming to suddenly be driving through a big, bustling town with many sets of traffic lights after living in tiny Castle Rock for so long. There's one main avenue called Summerland Drive which strips down the middle of the town, dividing north from south. The wide avenue is lined with traffic lights at each intersection, all of which T-off into side streets and eventually branch off into the suburbs.

Summerland Driveis plagued with fast-food places, diners and pubs, and all were crowded with people on that late Saturday night. I cringed at the bustle of activity, wishing we'd done this two nights ago when things may have been a tad quieter.

Ace and I cruised the strip for a while, with Ace eyeing up every parking lot and side-street, looking for the area with the most 'potential'. He soon settled on one of the larger parking lots which provided for seven different stores. The lights were out in the grocery store at the far left and in its neighboring clothing store. Next to that was a small pool hall, Jimmy's Diner and then Borris's Burgers. Those three stores were open and business was booming, as they were popular hangouts for the town's youth. The clothing store and the hardware store to the far right were closed.

Personally, I would've gone somewhere quieter, but Ace knew what he was doing.

We pulled the big black beast into the lot, parking close to the exit at the far right corner. I was so nervous I was shaking. Ace, on the other hand, knew no fear. He casually took the last swig from his beer bottle like this was just an ordinary night. I guess for him, it was.

He stretched over me to open the glove box and took out a pair of black leather gloves and a flathead screwdriver from the collection of tools in there.

"You ready for this?" he asked me.

"Ready as I'll ever be…" I said, trying not to let my teeth chatter with my words.

"Come on then, baby; let's do this."

Ace handed me the keys before slipping his warm hand in mine and leading me across the parking lot. We moved briskly to the left side of the large lot and into the bushes which lined the entire edge. The low lighting here made this a perfect place to crouch in so Ace could talk me through things without us being seen suspiciously loitering around.

We peered out into the parking lot through the bushes. The large lot was half full, with most of the cars gathered at the center near the open pool hall and eateries, but there were a few strays too.

"First thing's first," Ace said in a hushed voice on bended knee, keeping his eyes fixed on the stores. "Do you know why we're on the left side of the parking lot instead of over there on the right?"

"Bushes?" I replied, thinking it was a no-brainer.

"No, look at the angle we're on. The open stores are all in the middle and the cars close to us are parked with their noses towards the stores. Where's the driver's door?"

"Ah… it's hidden. If we come from here, they won't be able to see what we're doing."

"Exactly. If we'd come from the right, we'd be exposed when working on opening the driver's door. And you don't have eyes in the back of your head. Always think about the directions people can come from. All we've got behind us here is bush and so our back is covered. But people can come from anywhere else including the road and the stores, and so that's where we need to keep our eyes peeled."

"OK then."

"Take a look at that Chevy sittin' there at the end of the line." He pointed to a dark blue '55 Chevy with whitewalls and white fuzzy dice hanging from the rearview mirror. It was in mint condition and so well waxed that it gleamed under the streetlights. "That's what I'm gonna go for. It'll have a decent speed and it's in good shape. Don't bring anything back that needs too much work. These things have gotta be in a sellable condition and we don't wanna spend too much time or money fixing them up to scratch. And another thing, don't get anything sluggish. Anything that can't outrun, or at least keep up with the cops, ain't a good option."

"Have you ever been chased by the cops?" I asked with my stomach slowly crawling up into my throat.

"Yeah, once. But I was just a kid then. And I got away," he said with a smug smirk.

I hadn't stopped shaking since we'd left the Lincoln. It wasn't the fear of what was about to go down right now that scared me shitless. It was the thought of having to do the same thing all by myself in 24 hours' time. All this time I'd been thinking about the end result, imagining myself driving into Markus's garage with the flashiest car I could find. I'd been thinking in theory; prepping myself with positive thinking. But this was no longer talk; this was reality. The crazy, insane shit that I was about to witness, I would have to repeat myself over and over and over…

"And lastly, gas," Ace continued. "Always, and I mean _always_ check the gauge as soon as you get power to it. You don't wanna wind up stranded half way to Castle Rock in the middle of the night, anywhere near a car that'll soon be reported missing."

"OK then," I said again, my teeth chattering with my words.

"How long do you think it'd take someone to walk from those stores to that Chev?" he asked.

"Twenty seconds, maybe thirty."

"Then you've got half that time to do the job."

A shudder rocked through me and Ace saw it.

"Drop the nerves, Cass. A clear head and focus is what's gonna get you through."

I liked that saying and tucked it away safe in memory to call upon in the future.

"You stick to doing things my way and you can't go wrong," he said, draping his arm around my shoulders and giving me a comforting squeeze.

"I know," I nodded, warming into his arm. There was something about that consoling hug that was uplifting. It helped me find trust in him again. He had my back; I had to remember that. And with that reassurance in mind, I felt my nerves dissipate.

His arm slipped from around my neck and he pulled on his black leather gloves. If he had to abandon the vehicle for any reason, gloves would ensure he didn't leave prints. I made a mental note to myself to start practicing my lock-picking wearing gloves.

"You OK to find your way back out to the highway?" he asked.

"I made some notes… so, I hope so."

"Don't come out 'til I'm out of the parking lot. I'll wait for you back at the main road."

After a brief kiss, he crept out of the bushes in a crouch and then stood to casually stroll over to the Chevy. My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it banging against the walls of my chest.

* * *

**2**

Ace took one swift glance towards the row of stores and then fixed his sights on the car, pretending that it belonged to him. He was pretty convincing. I sure wouldn't have suspected he was up to no good… unless I knew who he was of course. He tucked his hand in the pocket of his jeans as if reaching for his keys, but instead pulled out the flathead screwdriver.

Once he reached the Chevy, he pushed the tip of the flathead into the lock and wrenched it with powerful force to snap the pins. After one last glance around him, he opened the door, slipped into the driver's seat and then closed it quietly. He then disappeared from sight as he bent down to work on getting it started. I guessed for some reason, he didn't want to bust the ignition system on this beauty.

My heart was pumping adrenaline through my brain so hard I could feel it in my temples. I bit my fist with anticipation as I kept a close eye on the stores, begging that nobody would come out and walk towards our corner of the parking lot.

No more than a few seconds passed before the interior lights came on. Ace briefly popped his head up to check the gas and then the car came to life. The V8 purred like a baby pussycat and my grin spread from ear to ear. I dunno what it is about '55 Chevy's; I just think they're bad ass. Ace must've been enjoying it too because after backing out of the park, he put his foot down, giving the engine a little extra kick for fun. I beamed at him proudly, awash with relief when he pulled out of the parking lot and into Summerland Drive.

"Hey, that's my car!" The voice shocked the color out of me. My entire blood supply ran cold. My gaze shot towards the row of stores and I saw two teenaged guys standing frozen to the sidewalk, gaping with wide open mouths. One of them was pointing and stressing to the other at the sight of his taillights making their way up Summerland.

"Holy shit!" yelled his friend. "Hurry up; we can still catch the asshole!"

"Oh, fuck!" I reacted purely on instinct. I snapped up out of my hiding place and walked ever so briskly across the edge of the parking lot, towards the Lincoln. Fear didn't even enter the equation; once I was under pressure, the clear head and focus came naturally to me through pure adrenaline.

I kept a close yet covert eye on the two guys who were sprinting in the opposite direction on the store side of the lot. I thought they would've made the pursuit on foot, but no; they were gonna catch him by car.

The urge to make a beeline for the Lincoln revved through me, but in fear of looking suspicious I kept my cool and stuck to a brisk stride.

"Did you see which way he went?" I heard one of them shout from across the lot behind me.

"Yeah, he's right there, sitting at the lights on Summerland," shouted the other with a hint of suppressed excitement in his voice. I too could see Ace's tail at the first set of lights on the long strip of main road. All I could hope was that the many sets of lights further up would be on his side.

The guys reached their car fast, faster than I could reach the Lincoln. But I was parked right by the exit, whereas they'd have to drive to it from the top-left corner of the lot. I scooted into the seat and swiftly closed the door, firing the engine and reversing out in a 90 degree turn. My original intention was to catch up to Ace myself and warn him, but then a craftier idea came to mind.

I killed the engine just in time to be met by a white '54 Ford at my bumper. The way through was two lanes wide, but I cunningly took up both of them with my wide ass, preventing them from getting around me.

"Hey, get outta the way!" shouted the driver out his window, leaning on the horn.

I stuck my head out and called back, asking for sympathy. "My engine just died. I'm trying…"

"That guy's got my car!" panicked his passenger. "Get the fuck outta the way!"

I could no longer see Ace, but decided to hold them up for as long as possible to make doubly sure he'd gotten away. After a few seconds, I caught sight of the passenger's side door swinging open in my rearview mirror. The irate owner of the Chevy was coming my way. Just as he reached my tail, I fired the ignition again and put my foot on the gas.

"Stupid bitch!" he cursed as I edged ahead towards the exit. He sprinted back to his friend's car and the friend slammed his foot down on the gas before the Chevy owner had even closed the door.

I slowly drove the big beast out onto Summerland with the two guys flying passing me on my left, flipping me the bird and cursing profusely.

"Sorry," I mouthed to them through the glass, shrugging like there was nothing else I could have done.

Ace was nowhere in sight, and I sighed in relief to know that he'd gotten away.

The first two sets of traffic lights were green, and that allowed me to keep a safe following distance from the white Ford. But as the third set of lights went red, I was forced to catch up and awkwardly park alongside them.

They both glared menacingly at me through the window. The chances of catching the guy who'd stolen their prized possession were now greatly diminished, and they knew it.

I looked away from them and tried to put them out of my mind, willing the lights to hurry up and turn green again. But I should never have taken my eyes off those bastards, not even for a second.

A knock at the window startled me, and before I could react, my door clicked and swung open. The owner of the Chevy leaned in on the door, leering at me while I gaped at him in horror. His jet black hair was perfectly slicked back in a ducktail and gleamed under the street lights from grease overload. His chin protruded out with a wide dimple in the middle and he wore a brown leather jacket with a tan T-shirt and clean blue jeans.

"You realize you just cost me 'bout a thousand bucks back there," he seethed through clenched teeth.

I chose not to answer and reached for the door, pulling it as hard and fast as I could, but he stiffly held it open.

"Did you hear what I said, bitch?"

"Cost you a thousand dollars? What are you talking about?" I asked, doing my best to play innocent.

"Someone stole my car and you blocked us from catchin' him."

"Well, I'm sorry but my engine died. I've been having problems with it for a few days now."

I gasped as he reached in and clamped my chin tight with his fingers, forcing me to look him straight in the eyes. His despising scowl softened into a grin so sly it made my stomach turn. "Where you from little girl? Ain't seen you 'round before."

"Don't fucking touch me," I said, slapping his hand away.

"Oh come on, baby. You owe me one. It'll be fun."

All my nightmares were about to come true. He shoved my shoulder hard and forced me aside as he slipped into the driver's seat. In a fit of rage and panic, I lashed out at him with all my might, kicking him in the shins and shoving back at him, doing everything I could to make him concede that I wasn't worth the struggle. I punched him in the nose, side of the head and jaw, but my feeble blows did nothing apart from make a good mess of his hair. He was a big guy, about Ace's size, and I was no match for his strength. He fended me off at arm's length and managed to slam the door closed before planting his foot on the gas to take us through the lights. Still I scrambled and fought with him, grabbing the steering wheel and trying to stretch my foot to the brake.

"Stop it bitch!" he yelled in frustration. He tightened his fist and brought back a sharp, solid back elbow which clocked me on my right cheekbone. My head rolled around in a daze and I saw stars. Little blue and red lights swarmed my vision so abundantly that I could no longer see him. Everything went black.

A weak moan escaped my lips as I came around, realizing I'd passed out. I found myself lying on my back across the front bench seat, still in the moving vehicle, my head thumping in agony. I lifted my head slightly to see that the son-of-a-bitch was still driving and anxiously adjusting the front of his pants.

"Let me go," I sobbed. "Please just let me go."

"You ain't goin' nowhere, sweetheart. Not 'til you've paid your dues."

"Then take the car. Just drop me off here and take it."

"Why would I want a piece of shit that's been having engine troubles? Nah," he said, slyly eyeing me up and down, "there's only one thing I want from you."

I struggled to sit up but he placed a hand on my chest, warning me not to. "Lie down or I'll lay you out again."

We bumped wildly over what felt and sounded like gravel before he finally parked up and killed the ignition. I heard another car pull up beside us which I assumed would be his friend's '54 Ford. There was no road noise at all and it was really dark like we were well away from streetlights.

Terrified, I flipped myself over and stretched for the door, making a weak break for it. But he grabbed my back jeans pocket and hauled me towards him, sliding me across the seat and rolling me onto my back again.

"You sure are a feisty one," he grinned cruelly, climbing on top of me. He twisted my arm up underneath my back, jamming it tight, leaving only my right arm free. I wriggled and writhed under him, disgusted with what he was planning to do and desperate to change my fate.

I turned my head away in repulsion as he tried to kiss me, but he didn't waste too much time battling me for foreplay. A sickening shudder shook through me as I heard him pulling the zipper down on his jeans before wriggling them down past his ass.

"You're gonna lie still now, aren't you sweetheart?" he breathed into my ear, reaching for the zipper on mine.

"Not on your life." I shoved my free hand down between us and grabbed his balls through his underwear. I squeezed, twisted and pulled on those things until he screamed. I was so panicked and worked up that I suddenly felt like I had the strength of a mountain gorilla. I wanted to detach them from him. I wanted to make them bleed.

"Arrgghh! You fuckin' bitch!" He backhanded me so hard across the face I saw stars again, but my efforts were effective. He reached behind him to open the door, desperate to get out there and stand to ease his pain. Leaning bent double against the door of the Lincoln, he stuffed his hands down his underpants, cupping his aching groin and scowling in at me.

"Damn, are you alright?" I heard his friend call from the car beside us.

I was so close to losing consciousness again that my senses were dampened. I could barely see, barely hear and could barely think. But I still caught sight of the one glimmer of hope I had left; the keys dangling out of the ignition.

"Don't even think about it," he grunted, noticing what I was staring at. To my dismay, he ripped them out and slammed the door, closing me inside.

He stood outside, soothing his balls and discussing what to do with me with his friend. This did not look hopeful. This guy was a psycho and there was no doubt in my mind that the decision would be to get rid of me for good.

My whole body shook as my pitiful life flashed before my eyes. I glanced around the interior, desperate to find anything that could help me. _Tools. There were tools in the glove box_. _I could stab them to death._ Yeah, I'm sure that plan would've been a failure, but my next one wasn't. _What am I doing? I don't need the keys!_

I'd left my lock picks back at Ace's that night, but there was a whole collection of screwdrivers in the glove box. I stretched to open it and grabbed one out, scurrying down low to unscrew the panel to the ignition, hoping to the heavens above that they wouldn't see me messing around.

The wires were already cut and had been wrapped in insulation tape, so I quickly ripped them free. I carefully crossed the power wires together, wrapping the insulation tape around to hold them in place. The interior lights came on around me, lighting the car up like a Christmas tree, instantly catching the guys' attention.

"What the…?" I heard one say. But they had little time to react.

By the time my attacker pulled his hands from his nuts and clicked the door open, I'd already crossed the browns and put the car in reverse. I slammed my foot down on the gas and backed wildly out towards the road, watching both guys chase me in the headlights. I then threw the car into first and peeled out, shaking so hard with elation that my knuckles turned white on the wheel.

* * *

**3**

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I drove through the streets of Chamberlain, searching for my way out. My head was throbbing, my vision was clouded, and my cheek and jaw were numb to the touch. I didn't dare look at my face in the mirror. Just knowing how easily I bruise was enough to know how bad it would be.

Finding Summerland Drive led me to the cemetery, and from there the way home would be easy with my notes. I was sure Ace wouldn't have gone back into town to find me. Driving the Chevy around would've been too risky. I pictured he'd be halfway to Castle Rock by now, because waiting on the side of the highway in a stolen car for too long wasn't wise.

But as I flew past the "You are leaving Chamberlain" sign, I caught sight of something in my headlights, further up the highway. Ace's new blue Chevy.

I slowed down and pulled up behind it, just knowing he'd be angry with me for making him wait. Sure enough, he slammed his door behind him and stormed over to me, furiously ripping open my door. "Where the fuck've you been?"

I ignored his anger and lunged at him, wrapping my arms tight around his waist. I'd never been so happy to see someone in all my life. "I got held up," I sobbed into his chest.

He gripped me under the arms and held me at length to look me over. The light from the dash of the Lincoln illuminated my face, giving him a clear view of the bruises. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Let's just go home, please?" I begged.

"No way, tell me what happened."

"The guy who owns that car saw you drive out of the parking lot, and he and his friend tried to chase you… but I held them up. Once they realized you'd gotten away, the guy jumped me at the lights. He pushed his way into the Lincoln, drove us out to God knows where, and then he tried to…" I tried to say the word, but couldn't make it leave my mouth.

"Tried to what?"

"You know…" I sniffed, wiping my eye with the back of my hand.

"He's a dead man." Ace's eyes glazed over as he fixed his sights on revenge. "Did he make any connection between you and the Chev?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Then follow me." Ace rushed to the Chevy and fired the ignition, revving the baby pussycat so high it roared. He slammed his foot down on the gas and peeled out in a u-turn, the ass of the Chevy swinging behind him as he tore up the road.

I couldn't help bite my swollen lip as I admired how hot he looked behind the wheel of that '55 Chev. I know; I'm shocking sometimes.

Pushing my stray thoughts aside, I hurried to the Lincoln and swung the big beast around to follow him back into town. He led us to a vacant lot just a couple of blocks down from where we stole the Chevy. I watched from the roadside as he climbed out, leaving it parked there as bait for the assholes to find. He then ran back to where I was waiting and I shuffled over to the passenger's side to let him take the wheel.

"Where's the keys?" he asked, noticing I'd pulled the panel off.

"He took them. And by the way, your lesson in hotwiring already paid off."

We backed into a vacant lot on the opposite side of the road and parked up in a dark corner that would keep us concealed. The waiting began.

"How do you know he's even looking for it?" I asked.

"He'll be looking for it. That was a nice find."

"We don't have to do this you know. Taking his car would be revenge enough."

"Are you crazy? Look at your face." He connected the power wires to light up the dash and I reluctantly leaned up to the rearview mirror to look.

I flinched at my reflection. The top of my right cheekbone was the darkest shade of purple and had swollen to the diameter of a golf ball. My jaw was also swollen, the bruise starting about midway on the bone, leading down to a gash at the corner of my lip.

"I'm gonna fuck that motherfucker up, Cass. No one hits my girl and lives to remember it." He disconnected the wires again, leaving us in dark silence.

I hate fighting, especially when I knew it was going to be brutal. So what if the guy deserved it? It wouldn't make it any more bearable to watch. But Ace's mind was set on making this guy pay and I was too tired to argue with him. I used my last scrap of energy to pick up his arm and wrap it around my shoulders so I could tuck up close in the safety of his chest.

An hour later, I woke to find myself still nuzzled into him. I glanced up to see him wide awake with his sights still firmly fixed on the Chevy. He would've sat there all night and all the next day if that's what it took.

"I'm tired," I said softly. "Can't we just go home?"

"Hold up… what's this?" Ace straightened his posture and stared attentively through the windscreen. I sat up too, fearfully gripping the chest of his T-shirt as we stared out across the road.

The red tail lights of a white '54 Ford glowed in the darkness as it pulled into the vacant lot. The owner of the Chevy got out and walked over to his pride and joy to inspect it for damage.

"Fucking Jefferson," Ace said with a gritty laugh.

"What… you know him?"

"Yeah. Kyle Jefferson. We went to high school together."

Kyle opened the driver's side door and inspected the interior. "It's been hot-wired," he called to his friend who just shrugged uselessly at him.

Ace was itching to get out and smash him over there and then, but that wouldn't have been wise. For one thing, there were two of them. More importantly, Ace didn't want them to figure out we'd used the car as bait. They'd then know for sure that Ace was the one who stole it. Anything we could do to avoid that was ideal.

Kyle fired up the Chevy and his friend went back to his own car. The two cars then drove out of the lot and headed north up Summerland, with us soon trailing behind at a distance. After following them for a short time, we saw the two cars pull up side-by-side at the lights. The friend stretched through his car to shake Kyle's hand through the window, the two saying their goodbyes for the night. The white '54 then took a left around the corner while Kyle's unsuspecting blue '55 took a right.

We continued to tail the lone vehicle at a distance through the suburban streets. It wasn't long before it reached its final destination, turning right to park up in a driveway. Ace pulled the Lincoln up to the curb, right outside the house, the fire in his eyes intensifying.

"Stay here and lock the doors," he said, before getting out and quietly closing the door behind him.

I did as he asked and peered through the glass with my heart in my throat, bracing myself for the worst.

As Ace moved swiftly up the driveway, he reached into his back pocket for his blade. A chill ran up my spine when I heard a brief click as he flicked it out at his side. If there's one weapon I hate, it's knives. They're gruesomely deadly. Even the slightest touch can cause a gaping wound… as I learnt when Lewis slit my arm open with one.

Kyle opened the driver's door, still oblivious that he had a visitor. But Ace knew how to catch his attention. With a nifty flick of the wrist, he flipped the switchblade into a stabbing grip and bent low to plunge it into the Chevy's rear tire. Kyle reacted immediately. Caught off-guard, he stumbled to his feet, watching in horror as Ace slashed his wheel open wide.

I wondered if his balls were still sore.

"Ace? What's goin' on?"

"Recognize that?" Ace gestured behind him.

Kyle glanced over Ace's shoulder, doing a double take as he recognized the Lincoln and saw me peering out. His jaw dropped an inch as he comprehended just how much severe shit he was in. "That was her fault," he lamely protested. "Someone tried to steal my car and she blocked the way!"

"That was a stupid move, Kyle. There ain't no excuse good enough for trying to rape my girlfriend." Ace swiveled the blade in his hand again and raised it to point the razor sharp tip straight at Kyle's dimpled chin. "You're dead."

"Well don't think I ain't gonna put up a fight." Kyle flicked his own switchblade out in front of him, leering with a sadistic smile.

The two began to circle each other, snarling and sneering in a blood thirsty duel. Ace made the first swipe and I winced. Kyle then swiped wide, an inch from Ace's chest, making him jump back to dodge it. I couldn't look. I closed my eyes for a moment, finding the scene too unbearable to watch.

My eyes flew open again at the tinkering sound of a blade hitting the concrete. My chest pounded just short of a heart attack to see that Ace's switchblade lay gleaming on the driveway at his feet. Kyle had tried to stab his knife downwards onto Ace's chest, and Ace had needed both hands to catch Kyle at the wrist and defend himself from what would've been a fatal strike. Kyle was still holding strong in the dominant position, leaning in and forcing the blade downwards with all his ruthless might, trying to drive it into Ace's heart. It took all of Ace's strength to fight upwards against the downward push, and he knew he didn't have much time to turn things around.

So with one last desperate surge of energy, Ace aggressively thrust up Kyle's arms high and kneed him hard in the nuts. Kyle grunted and buckled forwards in excruciating pain. Twice in one night. Even _I_ winced. Not a second after he hunched over, Ace threw a powerful right-hook at his nose. Kyle almost spun full circle with his nostrils spraying an arc of blood. He managed to stay on his feet, not knowing whether to hold his nuts or his nose. He was doubled over in searing pain, keeping a defensive eye on Ace with his switchblade flailing uselessly in his hand. Ace grabbed the arm holding the knife to gain control over it and did a running dive on Kyle, driving him into the garage door. The tin made a terrible racket, and even more so as Ace repeatedly back-elbowed Kyle's head against it. Kyle's head kept bouncing back like a basketball until Ace finally stopped and let him slump to his feet. The knife tinkered to the ground.

All I could see through my blur of emotional tears was Kyle's messed up, greasy black hair and the blackness of his bloody face. Ace took a few steps backwards and picked up his switchblade, holding it out at his side as he prepared to make his final mark.

"That'll do boy," said a stern voice. I'd been so fixated on watching the fight that I hadn't seen a middle aged man appear at the top of the stairway, right above them. He was wearing boxer shorts and a singlet like he'd just jumped out of bed, and he held a double-barreled shotgun pointed right at Ace's head.

Ace immediately halted and slowly lowered the knife. "He beat my girl, so now I'm just here to return the favor."

"That'll do," the man repeated. "Now be away with ya. Or I'll blow your fucking head off!"

Ace didn't need to be told twice. He slowly backed away, inch by inch, not taking one eye off that shotgun. I took the hint and fired up the engine, opening the door for him to reluctantly slip inside. He furiously threw his switchblade on the dash before planting his foot down hard on the gas.

Ace parked up in Chamberlain and made a mysterious call at a phone booth, but I didn't ask why. We didn't speak the whole way home. He was still fuming from the fight and I kept my head down, feeling sorely responsible for the whole thing. Ace most likely would've gotten away without me interfering. I should've just stayed out of it and trusted him to know what he was doing.

I thought we'd be going straight to Ace's but instead we went to Markus's. Vince was there with his Studebaker, waiting for us to arrive.

"Get in Vince's car," Ace told me. "I'm gonna park this up around the back."

His tone seemed cold towards me and I wasn't sure if it was because of the nights events or because I caused them. But I had to know. "I'm sorry I interfered…" I said softly. "I got what I deserved for that, but he almost killed you."

Ace gripped my chin and looked me in the eye. "You were acting on instinct. That tells me you weren't afraid to step in when you thought it was necessary, and I give you props for that. So stop feeling guilty. Kyle Jefferson is a rabid dog that needs to be put down. You didn't deserve what he did to you and he didn't deserve to live. Next time he won't be so lucky."

I did as Ace said and climbed out of the car. Vince was leaning against his hood and his eyes widened when he saw my messed up face, but he didn't say one word. In fact, he quickly looked away as if he hadn't seen a thing. That's bizarre for Vince. I thought he would've taken the great opportunity to poke fun and laugh at me, but he respectfully kept his lips sealed.

Ace drove the Lincoln into Markus's garage and that was last time I saw it. Kyle and his friend had seen it, and so using it again would be high risk. Markus would put in a new ignition system and give it a final spruce up before shipping it abroad. Then sometime, somewhere, it would be sold from a used car lot to an unsuspecting buyer who will never know what escapades that car had been on.

* * *

**Phew... that's an intense chapter.**

**Coming up... Keith sees the state of Cassie's face, and she goes out for her first solo run - heheh, fun times.**

**Thank you all for reading, I'd love to hear what you thought!**

**Thanks for the reviews: CastleRockGirl, MrsAceMerrill, Phedrelora, Chailyn Kamaria and Aloha. Your comments meant the world to me, and I hope I can keep you entertained :) Thanks to everyone who favorited too!**

**Also, a special thanks to my new beta reader, the lovely Phedrelora who's really outdone herself in helping me. She has given me some AMAZING constructive criticism over the last few days, not just for this chapter, but for the story as a whole and also for my general writing skills. Phedrelora, I cannot thank you enough! xx**


	5. Invisible Scars

_**Previously... **_**Ace took Cass out for a demo and ended up stealing a Chevy belonging to a guy he knew from high school, Kyle Jefferson. When Cass tried to prevent Kyle from catching up to Ace, she got herself into a world of trouble. Kyle tried to rape her and she escaped, but not unscathed. Ace became enraged over this and went back to find and kill Kyle, but only managed to beat him to near-death. He was interrupted by Kyle's father holding a double-barreled shotgun to his head.**

* * *

**Invisible Scars**

I awoke just before noon, opening my eyes to see Ace sitting up in bed smoking a cigarette and staring out in distant thought. His eyes were bloodshot and bleary like he hadn't slept the entire night. I lay there for a little while, watching the glowing embers release puffs of thick smoke which would languidly curl up into the air before being sucked out the open window behind him. Ace was usually quite a relaxed smoker. Half his cigarettes would burn up between his fingers or in the ashtray rather than being inhaled directly down into his lungs. But that morning, he wasn't wasting one penny worth of nicotine. He sucked back puff after puff like his brain was absorbing it to process for thought power.

"Didn't you sleep?" I asked him.

His lack of a reply confirmed my suspicions. I'd hardly slept either. The traumatic memories of being in the Lincoln haunted my dreams, waking me countless times. My visions were so vivid I could see Kyle's sneering face in every detail and could feel the weight of his body pressing heavily against my chest. The feeling of being trapped and breathless would scare me awake, and it would take a moment for me to calm down and assure myself that I was safe. Ace had lay on his side with his back to me all night and so I thought he was asleep. Far from it.

After watching him smoke for a while, I shuffled over to tuck up close to him, resting my head in his lap and hugging his sheet covered thighs. I was comforted to feel his hand come to rest on my bare arm while his thumb softly stroked my skin. Another puff of smoke surrounded us before I saw the butt being stumped out in the overflowing ashtray on the bedside table.

"Kyle's gonna figure it out," he said.

"Figure what out?"

"That it was me who stole his Chevy."

My eyebrows lowered with concern. "What makes you so sure?"

"Now that he knows you and me are together, he'll realize that I put you in the Lincoln." He rubbed his tired eyes with his palms in frustration. "Fuck… even a blind man could see that. He'll probably think I told you to cover for me if anything went wrong."

I rolled over and propped myself up on my elbow to have this serious conversation face to face. "Are you worried he'll go to the police?" I asked with my heart slowly crawling up into my throat.

"Not about last night, because he'll know that putting me up on theft or assault charges would cause you to press charges against him for attempted rape."

"You're damn right I would." Boy, I _badly_ wanted to talk to the cops but I couldn't. Kyle would then have nothing to lose by pressing charges against Ace and I for theft and nearly killing him. It was logical to assume there would be a mutual understanding between all parties that last night's incident was best kept tightly under wraps. "So, what are you worried about then?" I asked. "What's kept you awake all night?"

Ace reached for his packet of cigarettes and shook it out to find it empty. After cursing under his breath, he screwed up the packet and threw it at the end wall across the room. I guessed I'd be picking that up later.

"Kyle and I have known each other for a long time. We went to school together and he used to be one of my best buyers."

My mouth went dry. "You mean… you used to sell him stolen cars?"

"Not just cars. All sorts of shit. I'd sell to him and then he'd ship the stuff out of town where it'd end up on the black market in some other state. From that, he'll know that me stealing the Chevy was part of a bigger picture; he'll know I'm still in business. And he'll try to use that to get revenge on me for beating the shit out of him last night."

"But how can he? He doesn't really _know_ anything and he has proof of nothing."

"Not yet, but he could get it."

"Shit… then we've gotta stop…"

"No. We don't stop," Ace said with determination in his tired eyes. "Me and Markus have spent months setting this up. This is gonna make us rich. There's no way I'm flushing it all down the toilet just because of that piece of shit."

"So put it on hold for a while, just until the dust settles," I said, thinking it a worthwhile suggestion.

"No can do. Our buyer will mark us down as unreliable and cut us off. We can't risk that; these guys pay $1500 a car and we'll never find anyone offering such a high rate again."

My head screamed. Never mind the risk to us winding up in jail. Ace could be so fucking stubborn sometimes. "So what do we do then?" I huffed.

His eyes narrowed at me with a look so full of hatred that it was easy to tell what _his_ ideal solution was.

"You wanna kill him…" I said. "Ace, you can't do that. That old guy with the gun already saw you try to kill him once. If Kyle's found dead, or even if he mysteriously goes missing, they'll point the finger directly at you."

Ace smirked bitterly. "Now you know why I couldn't sleep."

I felt a great weight come to rest on my shoulders. _This is all my fault._ _If only I hadn't tried to block those guys with the Lincoln,_ _none of this would've happened._

Ace stroked my cheek with a crooked finger. "Stop blaming yourself."

"That obvious, is it?"

He grasped each of my wrists and tugged them suggestively. After a sullen sigh, I pushed myself up and threw a bare leg over his thighs to straddle him. I tucked my knees up tight at either side of his hips and rested my arms around his neck as his eyes gazed seriously into mine.

"Kyle deserved what he got last night," Ace said. "I've got no regrets and neither should you. We'll think of a way to fix this."

I sighed deeply, not liking the sound of this one bit. If Kyle got his grubby hands on just one piece of proof, we'd be done. It could ruin our lives. To me, nothing was worth that kind of risk, but to Ace, retaining his pride was worth every risk. He backed down to no one.

"Trust me, Cass," he said, soothingly stroking my thighs. "I _will_ think of something."

"OK, I trust you." I would've preferred for him to have a plan in place before agreeing to risk my neck to keep this business going, but I did trust him to work something out.

Ace could barely keep his eyes open now. His head was slightly rolling around on his shoulders and I swore he was about to nod off right in front of me.

"You need to get some rest," I said. "You'll never come up with an ingenious plan with no energy." I began to gently massage his shoulder muscles which were so tight I might've been rubbing two rounded stones under the surface of his skin. That showed just how stressed he was feeling over this whole ordeal.

"God that's good," he groaned, his head rolling back to rest on the windowsill behind the low headboard.

"What? This?" I firmly dug my thumbs into his muscles, running them from his shoulders all the way up into the back of his neck.

"Mmm…"

With an obliging smile I repeated the movement over and over, being sure to touch on different points of the muscles, knowing exactly how and where to rub to make it feel best. "You know…" I said with a sly thought, "I could do much better than this. You should roll on your stomach."

He didn't argue. Lying on his belly was his favorite sleeping position. I climbed off him and pulled a pot of my moisturizer from the bedside draws while he slumped face down on the mattress like a dead weight.

I snickered to myself before slapping a firm hand down on his sheet covered butt, purposely making it a stinger. He winced slightly and I chuckled. Payback. I threw my leg over to straddle him, using his bum for a comfy seat.

"Jesus!" His whole body twitched in shock, his voice muffled by the mattress. That was from me flicking globs of cold moisturizer from the pot all over the warm skin of his back. Again, I chuckled. I liked it how he was too tired to put up much of a fight.

But I couldn't keep up my dominant act over him for long. The sight of his sexy back splayed out before me made me weak. I touched my palms to his flawless, sun-kissed skin and melted inside. From the small dimples just inside his lower hips, up the firm muscles on either side of his spine and all the way up to his broad shoulders, I drove my fingertips deep through his soft flesh, spreading a thin sheen of cream over every inch. For over an hour, I leisurely ran my hands over him in sensual sweeping motions, working each muscle group like I was kneading the most delicate dough. My firm and yet gentle technique was certainly doing the trick as I felt his muscles slowly relaxing and feeling looser to my touch… until I finally heard the familiar sound of a faint snore.

I smiled as I carefully climbed off him, glad that his mind would be at peace for the next few hours. Now I only hoped I would be so lucky. Sliding in between the sheets, I tucked up close and watched Ace sink deeper into a heavy slumber. When my weary eyes soon became too dry to stay open, I closed them while keeping his face pictured clearly in my mind. I thought that if I could to take him into dreamland instead of Kyle then maybe I could sleep peacefully without any more horrible nightmares.

* * *

**2**

A massive, dull weight pressed heavily against my chest, squashing my lungs and restricting my breaths to short gasps. There was a painful, sharp pulling sensation on one side of my neck and my thighs were stretched open wide. I was half-asleep but conscious enough to be aware that my mind was lingering in that place between sleep and awake.

_The dreams… this is another one of those awful dreams._

I knew that the only way to make it stop was to wake up, but I was so lethargic that I just couldn't do it no matter how hard I pushed myself. All I could feel were my eyeballs rolling around pathetically in my head as I willed my eyes to open. The night before had really taken it out of me.

The pressure on my chest became so unbearable that I thought if I didn't wake up soon this dream would suffocate me. I knew how silly that sounded, but there was something so real about it that I couldn't rule out the possibility. It wasn't like the dreams before it. I could feel everything with sharp definition; from the cool wetness on my neck that was left every time the mouth released it for a breath, down to the nauseating rocking motion of him grinding against me and preparing himself to go further.

_Must wake up…_

I tried to scream, straining to pull myself out of this heavy sedation and into reality. I screamed even louder and longer… and then I realized that I wasn't actually screaming at all. It was all in my head; I was screaming in my sleep. I needed to scream for real.

"Get off me!" The sound was closer to a small groan than a scream, but hearing it and feeling it leave my throat was enough to jolt me awake. My eyes flew open to darkness; all I could see was the guy's bare shoulder as he held me down, and all I could hear were his heavy breaths right next to my ear. I was definitely awake and yet I still couldn't breathe. His body weight was just as insistent on suffocating me as ever. This was not a dream; this was really happening.

I tried to scream again, but my voice came out sounding small and hoarse from the smothering pressure my body was enduring. I tried to push up against his shoulders to shove him off, but he was far too heavy. Constrained and unable to take in a decent breath of air, I began to struggle and writhe in a full on panic attack. My arms flailed and punched at whatever part of his body I could hit, which was mostly his arms and his head.

"What the fuck are you doing?" he asked before rolling his heavy weight off me.

Released from my restraints, I bolted upright and sucked in a liberating lungful of air, relishing in the feeling of freedom. There was a quiet 'click' as the bedside lamp was switched on and the colored bulb painted the truth of my surroundings in a dark-red hue.

Ace was sitting up on the bed beside me, panting slightly and frowning at my erratic behavior. His skin was reddened from the light making him look sexy and yet doubly angry. "What the hell was that?" he asked.

My mouth opened to speak, but truthfully, I had no idea _what_ the hell it was. My mind raced for answers as I gaped at him, trying to make my mouth produce words. "I'm sorry… I thought you were…"

"You thought I was who? Kyle?" He screwed up his nose, turning his look of anger into one of disgust.

If my face wasn't already reddened from the light, he would've seen me blush. I could understand why my mistaking him for another guy was so offensive. I lowered my head and began fiddling with the hem of the sheet before nodding sheepishly.

"That's fucked up…" Ace rolled off the bed, grabbed his jeans and pulled them on.

"But… I didn't mean it," I tried to reason with him. "I was half-asleep. I didn't know what was going on!"

"That's bullshit. You were punching me; you were awake. And if after all we've done together, you still don't know me… you still don't think of me…"

"Ace, you're _all_ I think about. Trust me. I just… went through a rough time last night." I climbed up onto my knees and knelt before him on the bed. "I'll make it up to you," I said, giving him my best puppy dog pout while undoing the belt he'd just fastened.

But he batted my hands away and redid the belt before pulling a T-shirt over his head. "Maybe later."

My cheeks burned as he left the room. I understood why he was so offended and upset with me, but thought he could cut me some slack after what I went through the night before.

_He'll get over it_, I consoled myself. But there was a little niggling thought lingering at the back of my mind that bugged me so much I couldn't ignore it. _What if it happened again? Even worse, what if this time was the first of many?_

* * *

**3**

My head spun as I lay back on the bed, massaging my temples. It was 9 pm, one hour before Ace was supposed to take me up to Markus's so I could meet him for my first solo run. I had to perform the riskiest task of my life that night with my head feeling lethargic and spinning with distracting thoughts.

The water faucets of the shower squeaked from the bathroom and I heard the water running. Ace had obviously decided to take a shower. With a spontaneous thought, I rolled off the bed and quickly dressed warm before heading through the house and out the front door. I thought some fresh night air would wake up my brain and help me get over what had just happened between Ace and I. The last thing I needed was the fresh memory of Ace saying, "What the hell was that?" while I was sitting in the hot seat and trying to pick an ignition.

But no sooner had I stepped out onto the front porch and inhaled a deep, soothing breath of cool night air, a metallic blue '32 Deuce rumbled down the loose gravel.

"Shit… what does _he_ want?" I muttered, although I already assumed the answer. I was supposed to deliver a package to him on Wednesday and it was now Sunday. He'd be dry and his customers would be climbing the walls.

The rowdy engine went quiet and he climbed out of the car. "Cass," Keith said, slamming his door in slight annoyance. "Where have you been?"

It was nine at night and too dark for him to see the bruises on my face at a distance, but I knew he'd see them clearly once he came close. I panicked a little, not knowing what I was supposed to say. Ace and I hadn't discussed how I would explain to everyone why one side of my face was black and blue. All I knew was that I couldn't tell the truth.

Keith hurried over to me and stepped up onto the porch, and I instinctively turned the bruised side of my face away from him.

"I've been trying to get hold of you for days," he said. "Every time I ring here, Ace tells me you're at home, I ring your place and you're not there. What's going on?"

"I've been busy…" I said, giving him an awkward sideways glance.

Either he caught sight of something or I was just acting too damn strange for him not to become suspicious. He frowned curiously before gently touching my chin and pivoting my head to look at him front on.

His eyes went wide; he was furious at what he saw. "What happened?" he asked firmly. His fists tightened and his chest was heaving like he was ready to bash some heads.

I broke my gaze from him, feeling guilty that I was about to lie outright to my friend, but seeing no other option. "I slipped over."

Keith shook his head in disgust. He knew I was lying through my teeth. "Where is he?" Then to my surprise, he grabbed the door handle and burst through the front door. His eyes immediately lay on a still irritable Ace who had just walked into the kitchen after his shower.

"What the fuck do you want?" Ace said, taken aback at Keith's unexpected abrupt entrance.

Keith simply stepped forwards and took a swing at him, his huge, muscly arm landing 250 pounds of force to the left side of Ace's head. Ace spun slightly before hitting the deck, knocked clean off his feet and onto the kitchen floor. Ace may be tough, but he has nothing on Keith.

"Ace!" Putting all of our earlier quarrels behind us, I rushed to his aid. I knelt on the wooden floorboards and rested his head on my lap, noticing the red glowing orb where Keith's knuckles had smacked his skin. "What the fuck did you do that for?"

"Cos he deserved it."

Ace was out for a full ten seconds before his eyes rolled back to consciousness. "Are you OK?" I asked him.

He simply shook it off and fiercely rose to his feet, his still tired and reddened eyes making him look even more ferocious. "Why don't you try that again?" he dared Keith.

"Love to." Keith took another swing, but this time without the element of surprise on his side. Ace ducked and tackled Keith at the waist, piling his large body up against the fridge. The heavy appliance rocked, as did the collection of empty whiskey bottles on top.

That was when they _really_ began to go at it.

Ace pinned Keith to the fridge as he tucked himself into his torso and delivered blow after blow to either side of his ribcage. Keith fought back on the defensive, landing firm punches on Ace from every angle he could, most of them to his unprotected head. All I could do was look on in horror and uselessly yell at them to quit.

Ace's shattering blows soon became too much for Keith's ribs and so Keith grabbed him by the shoulders and shoved him off so hard that Ace staggered backwards across the kitchen floor. The two stood apart, staring each other down, panting heavily with recovering breaths. Ace's cheek was bruising up fast, but other than that he didn't look too worse for wear. Keith hadn't been hit in the face and so he looked fine, but I bet his abdomen would've been colorful.

"So this is how you're gonna treat her, Ace? Huh?" Keith screamed at him. "Is this the way it's gonna be from now on?"

"It wasn't me who hit her, you stupid dumb fuck!"

Keith's eyes narrowed at Ace and his voice became dangerously low. "I didn't say you did. But that don't mean you ain't responsible. What have you got her into?"

"It's not Ace's fault," I spoke up. "My own stupid decisions led to this; I've only got myself to blame."

"Cass, watch what you say," Ace warned.

Ace's caution only heightened Keith's suspicions, making him even more determined to press me for answers. The questions began to fly at me thick and fast. "Sounds like you're covering for something. So what's he put you up to? What 'errands' has he got you running for him this time?"

My mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. He was dead on the money with every single question and he knew it. After all, he'd warned me about it only weeks earlier.

"Come on, tell me," he continued to pressure me. "More drugs? It's burglary, isn't it? He's had you break into somewhere and you've gotten caught."

"No!"

"So what is it then?"

"Someone tried to rape me! Are you happy now?" It burst out of me like someone had turned on a water faucet and my lips weren't strong enough to contain the force. Then again… maybe I wanted him to know. At least someone would give me some sympathy.

"Jesus…" he whispered. His face sunk and his whole aggressive demeanor took one giant step down. Now I think he was sorry for pushing me so hard.

"Cass, I told you to keep your mouth shut!" Ace lashed out at me.

"Hey!" Keith stepped in on my defense. "Watch the way you talk to her. She's obviously been through a lot."

"You think I don't know that?"

"You're certainly acting like you don't care!"

"Fuck you! Get the fuck outta my house!" Ace advanced towards him, his anger seething through his teeth.

"I'm going." Keith walked out the door and then turned back briefly for one final word to me. "Cass, if you could get me that bag real soon, I'd appreciate it." He barely finished his sentence before Ace slammed the door in his face.

"That son-of-a-bitch!" Ace erupted. He was irate before, but now he was livid.

I stared at the door with an anxious desire to open it again and catch up to Keith. With Ace in such a rage, now wasn't an ideal time for it, but making Keith wait for another few days seemed cruel, let alone pointless. I'd already put it off for long enough; it was time to face up to my responsibilities and end the deal between us.

"Where do you think you're going?" Ace asked me as I moved to the door.

"To end this."

"Let him suffer a bit longer. Who gives a fuck?"

"No. I've got enough problems to deal with. I need to move on from this _now_."

As I opened the door and stepped outside, I anticipated Ace grabbing me by the shirt collar to haul me back, but he let me go without any further resistance. Maybe he realized that one less problem on his plate was good for him too.

* * *

Keith was just backing up the driveway as I leapt off the deck and ran towards him. He hit the brakes when he saw me, kicking up a cloud of gravel dust.

"What is it?" he asked over the slight rumble of the engine as I leant down to look in his window. I swore I saw hope in his eyes for a brief moment, like he thought I was gonna tell him he was right and that I needed a lift home.

No such luck.

I guiltily sucked in my bottom lip and took a small breath for confidence. This wasn't easy to say. "I'm really sorry about this but… I won't be delivering any more packages to you. I'm out. You're gonna have to find someone else." He'd been very supportive of me while I was on my own, and I felt terrible for breaking things off so abruptly.

Keith rolled his glary blue stoner eyes towards the house where Ace was leaning against the doorframe and keeping a watchful eye over us. "Wow. He's got you wrapped up good, hasn't he?"

"This was _my_ decision," I said softly. "I'm taking charge of my own affairs here. Ace isn't pushing me into this."

"So then why do it?" he urged. "We were making some good money. I thought things were working out well."

"And they were but… things have changed."

Keith nodded his understanding. He knew exactly what was going on – that I was working for Ace now and didn't need him anymore – even if I wouldn't admit it to him. "The thing is… I worry about you, Cassie. I don't know what Ace has pulled you into but I don't like the look of it. At least if I see you every now and then, I can check you're safe."

His genuine concern touched my heart and I felt it melt just a little. I wondered how he could still care about me so much after all I had put him through, but I was glad he did. Just like with Chris, Keith and I had an undeniable connection, and I found myself clinging to it even if it could never be. But his protectiveness wasn't helping me at all. It wasn't his place to turn up out of the blue and attack Ace every time something went wrong.

"I appreciate that; I really do. But I don't want you to worry. I'm a survivor. I've had a lot thrown at me in my life and I always find a way through."

"I know you do," he said with an amiable smile. "Look… if you're ever in trouble, you know my number and you know where I live. My door is always open for you, any time, day or night – OK? And… I'm sorry about the other day. I was… disappointed…"

"No, _I'm_ sorry. I acted like a real… idiot." I blushed at the memory of my last visit to Keith's where I'd been a complete emotional wreck and had basically demanded he give me some coke to soothe my pain. Well he gave it to me alright; he threw it at me.

"No, you needed someone to talk to and I should've helped you instead of… being an idiot."

"But your girlfriend was waiting for you. I'd never expect you to-"

"Nah, she's history. Told me I smoke too much pot," he snickered. "I told her she had to take me as I am."

"Yeah, you love your pot," I laughed. "I could never imagine a straight Keith. That would just be weird…"

"Hey, I've been straight! I'm straight every morning… afternoon when I wake up."

"For about ten minutes, I bet," I chuckled with a knowing grin.

Keith laughed too and didn't deny it.

"Cass! What the fuck?" Ace called from the porch, snapping me back into reality. Keith is so easy to talk to that I can't help slipping into a conversation with him. In fact, for a moment, I'd forgotten Ace was there.

"Shit…" I fretted, shaking myself back into 'business mode'. "Anyway, what I was gonna say was… I wanted to ask you if you'd like me to set you up with my supplier." I knew Ace wouldn't like it, but I had to do it. Keith deserved that much from me.

"You really would?" he asked, obviously thrilled with the offer. This meant he'd get full profits and keep his reputation of selling the best stuff in the area.

"It's the least I can do. Of course, I'll have to ask them if they'll sell to you first, but if they agree then I'll set it all up and let you know."

Keith exhaled a deep breath of enthusiasm, and it made me feel good to give him that. "I could hug you right now," he smirked, knowing exactly what my reaction to that would be.

"Don't. I've seen enough fighting for one weekend."

His eyes darkened and his smirk rose a little more to become that charming smile he used to pull on me during my visits in the early days. "You take care of yourself."

I looked on as he backed up the driveway and then threw his foot down on the gas, spinning up his rear wheels along the highway until they smoked and sent a cloud of burnt rubber wafting down into the basin.

* * *

**4**

I could feel Ace's eyes all over me as I walked back to the house but I couldn't bring myself to look at him. I assumed he hadn't heard much of the conversation because Keith and I were at a distance and Keith's engine purred quite loudly around us. But he'd certainly seen us laughing and joking like old buddies and I could already hear the grilling I'd get for that.

I shouldered past him without a glance and stepped into the house, preferring to be lectured in privacy rather than feeling exposed on the front porch. I leant against the kitchen table, arms folded and eyes cast to the wooden floorboards at my feet as Ace quietly closed the door.

I watched his boots as they walked over to stand before me. I braced myself… but a lecture never came. He didn't tell me off, yell me or even raise his voice. To my surprise, he wrapped his arms around me like a big security blanket and just held me. I wasn't sure what to make of it, but his chest felt soft and comforting and so I closed my eyes and let myself have the tender moment.

"I do care about you, Cass. You know that, right?" he asked.

My jaw dropped open against his chest as my ears did a double-take on what they just heard. He'd never told me that before; he'd never said anything remotely close to that. Keith telling him otherwise must've struck a nerve. "Of course," I replied softly. "I've always known."

"Good," he said, squeezing me a little tighter. "Kyle must've really scared you, huh?"

"Mmm-hmm. And the pressure you were putting on my chest… it took me right back there. I'm sorry, but even now I feel sick at that thought of that feeling. It might be a while before I can-"

"You'll get over it," he said before pressing a distractive kiss to my forehead.

"I hope you're right."

"You will. You're a tough chick, and you've made it through worse."

"You mean… like with Lewis? That's different though. I had help in the form of an iron bar…"

"I think you'll find it's not so different." Ace placed his hands on my hips and helped me to sit up on top of the table.

"How so?" I gulped anxiously. I knew where he was heading with this but wasn't at all sure if I could go through with it. My heart was beating so hard I could feel the blood pulsating through my wrists. My breaths became shallower and each muscle in my body tensed so tight I got goosebumps.

"It's all in your head, Cass," he said into my ear, his voice soft and hypnotic. "You can control it. You're repressing the memories of Lewis and you can repress this."

His words resonated strongly with me. I knew the power of the mind and the power of fear. Fear will outweigh all other emotions. Fear will kick you in the guts and get you to pay attention. It's your body's protection mechanism and ironically it can obscure your view on the clearest things. My legs dangled at Ace's sides as he hovered over me, holding himself up on one arm to keep a fraction of a distance between our bodies. I'd been in this position a million times with him, and yet that one time with Kyle outweighed them all. All I had to do was remember all the good times before that.

"OK, I'll try." I breathed deeply and tried to relax.

"That'a girl," he whispered. He leaned in on me and began to slowly ease me back to lie down on the table. He grazed his stubbly chin up the length of my neck, knowing the best tricks to get me in the mood. I tilted my head slightly to allow him better access and he took full advantage by seizing a small portion of skin into his mouth. My eyes rolled back into my head and I groaned at the pleasurable feeling of his soft sucking.

And then he began to test me.

He bore just a fraction of his weight down on my chest and my fight-or-flight instincts automatically kicked in. I began to struggle underneath him, but he held me firm and planted his lips on mine. My body went limp like a ragdoll. I could never deny Ace's kisses; not when they're like that. He delved into me deep like I had the sweetest tasting tongue in the world and he was addicted to the flavor. As he kissed me deeper and even more passionately, he bore an even greater weight on my chest. I was so distracted by being kissed that I barely noticed just how much weight he was putting on me. And when I did notice, I suddenly remembered why I loved it so much… because I could feel his heart beating against mine. Once all of these sensuous feelings were fully in tune, the fear that was burdened on me from my one night in hell with Kyle seemed to simply melt away.

* * *

**A/N: It was another long wait and I'm sorry about that! I've been doing a LOT of planning for the Sarah and Kyle story lines and am super excited about the new ideas I've come up with. I'm also halfway through writing the next chapter and so hopefully it will be ready in the next couple of weeks!**

******If you enjoyed this chapter (or didn't...) please let me know! I'd love to hear from you, and will always reply :)**

******Thanks for the reviews CastleRockGirl and Izout!**

******And thanks for the faves spurton-Q, d2496, PhoenixRings, Phedrelora, OffTheDeepEndx, Chailyn Kamaria, CastleRockGirl and AlyssalovesMarko!**

******Every email motivates me to continue on with this!**

******And a special thanks to my awesome beta reader Phedrelora! I appreciate every minute of your time, as well as your honest opinions and assurance that I'm doing my job in keeping this story interesting! And you're fun to work with ;)**

**********_Next up:_ New scenes emerged for chapter 5 and so Cass's first solo run has been pushed into chapter 6. There's also a high-stakes bet laid down between Cass and Vince, and the result leads to both of them keeping a secret from the one person they should never keep secrets from...**


	6. Upping the Ante

**_Previously: _Ace realizes how suspicious the whole scenario must've looked to Kyle and believes he'll figure out it was Ace who stole his Chevy. Since the two have history, Ace begins to predict Kyle's next moves but has no idea how to prevent him from ruining everything he and Markus have built.**

**Cass suffers some trauma after Kyle's attack on her, and Ace convinces her that the best way to 'get over it' is to suppress her feelings. That seems to work for her... in the meantime...**

******Keith blames Ace for Cass getting hurt and the two brawl. Cass then hands her deal over to Keith and promises to help him continue on with her supplier (Carl). Ace is aware that Keith is big competition and is mindful about keeping the grass looking greener on his side of the fence...**

**********_Note:_ Lewiston-Auburn is not intended to be a true representation of the 'actual' real life towns. I'm just using the names, so please don't be offended if you live there; there's sure to be plenty of inconsistencies.**

* * *

**Upping the Ante**

"Oh shit!" I said, just happening to glance at the clock hanging on the kitchen wall. "Look at the time! We gotta go!" Still lying flat on my back on the kitchen table, I struggled under Ace, pushing against his shoulders with my palms.

The events of the last hour had been so intense that our 10pm meeting time at Markus's had completely slipped my mind. I didn't know Markus very well, but assumed he wouldn't like tardiness.

Ace strapped his forearm across my chest to keep me pinned down while he took a casual glance over his shoulder at the clock. "It's only quarter to," he shrugged. "Plenty of time."

"But it's a fifteen minute drive…"

"I can get us there in five; that means we've still got ten minutes." With a sly grin, he reached between us to slip the strap out though his belt buckle.

"Ace… it was hard enough to convince Markus to give me a chance, and now that I've got one I can't screw it up."

"I won't let him throw you out for being a few minutes late. Now come on; we'll make it quick."

_Geez… teenaged males_, I sighed to myself.

"Being on time is important to me," I stressed to him. "First impressions last."

He ceased tugging at the button on my jeans and glared at me like he couldn't believe this. "Fine. I guess we'll wrap this up later then."

"We will, I promise." I slung my arm around his neck, roping him down to me so I could give him a quick, persuasive kiss on the lips. "Come on; let's get it done."

Sometimes I wondered what the hell was wrong with me. Despite the fact that I was absolutely shit scared about what I would be doing that night, things like, _'Being on time is important to me',_ still dropped out of my mouth. It was like I was living one big contradiction. Another version of myself, a brave (or maybe stupid) other me would take the wheel and throw her foot down on the gas while the real Cassie just hung on for dear life.

The other me hurried out to the '49 and impatiently tapped her fingers on the seat as Ace drove us out into the countryside. But I was nervous. Never in my life had I been so nervous. The butterflies in my stomach didn't flutter; they swooped, dived and soared, making me feel slightly nauseous. That night I was to do my first solo run. I planned to intentionally commit a crime, steal thousands of dollars' worth of somebody else's possessions, all for my own greedy and selfish reasons. And no matter how successful I was about putting on an enthusiastic front, I did not take that lightly.

"You ready for this?" Ace asked as we sped through the country roads at 75 miles an hour to make up for lost time.

"I think so. But I'm gonna take my time. I don't wanna rush it and make mistakes."

"Good plan. And… don't tell the other guys about what happened last night."

"Why not?" I was taken aback. If Kyle was somehow planning to take Ace down, we'd all be going down with him. I thought they had a right to know all the risks.

"I'll tell Vince and Eyeball in my own time, but Markus _cannot_ know," he said with a serious glance. "If he hears about what you did, you'll get the blame and be out before you were even in."

"OK… I won't say anything. But what are we gonna say instead? I'm sure these bruises will prompt some questioning."

"Just let me handle it." Then he glanced over with a mocking smirk. "You just sit there and look pretty."

"Haha… fun-_nee_. Have you seen _your_ face lately?"

"Huh?" Ace leaned towards the rear-view mirror to take a look at the award-winning shiner forming on his left cheekbone from Keith. "Shit… motherfucker's gonna pay for _that_ one."

All I could do was roll my eyes. Ace wasn't making an idle threat. The betting books for the next fight would already be open; time, place and petty purpose pending.

When we pulled up in front of Markus's trailer, I didn't even wait for Ace to put the handbrake on before scrambling out of the car. I bustled down the narrow dirt path before bursting through the open door where Markus, Vince and Eyeball were lounging back on the sofas and downing some last minute beers while they waited for us. I glanced up at the kitchen clock to see that it was 9.55pm. We were five minutes early.

_Whew… I need to buy a watch._

"What's _she_ doing here?" Vince asked, his eyebrows dropping heavily at my sudden appearance. He'd seen me out the front the night before, but neither he nor Eyeball had been told that I was wise to their new little business venture. After the liquor store job however, both of them probably had a hunch.

Eyeball didn't seem to care much about that though; he was too stunned by the sight of the bruises. "What happened to your face?" he asked, sitting up intently as if that would give him a better view.

"What _did_ happen to your face?" Markus chimed in with equal interest.

"I erm…"

"Hey guys," Ace said, stepping in behind me at the crucial moment.

The questioning looks of the other guys grew as they noticed the massive purple bruise on Ace's left cheek.

"If you're wondering what happened to Cass, she needs to learn that she shouldn't try to break up a fight or she might get hit. Ain't that right, Cass?"

"Yeah," I said, casting my eyes to the floor, pretending to be embarrassed by my stupidity. "It was a pretty dumb thing to do."

I glanced up at Vince who was glaring at me very suspiciously. Of course, he'd seen Ace and I the night before, and I was the only one with bruises then.

Ace opened Markus's fridge to grab a beer before leaning back against the bench to crack it open. Needless to say, he didn't offer me one before the big event. "So," he said to Vince and Eyeball. "You're probably also wondering why she's here."

"Or dreading…" Vince mumbled.

Markus rose to his feet to explain, talking in his usual, 'I take no shit' tone of voice that one would liken to a hard-ass drill sergeant. "Our buyer likes what we've been giving him and he's asked us to up our numbers to six cars per week. Ace needs to start working full-time on the mechanics work with me, and so we need somebody to replace him out on the field."

"And that's _her_?" Vince baulked.

"Ace seems to think she's got what it takes and so I'm willing to give her a chance." Markus then glared at me, his wide blue eyes piercing through me as he spoke. "Remember, you've got one chance only. You put one foot outta line and you're out."

"Well that shouldn't take long," Vince mumbled.

"God you're immature Vince," I mumbled back.

"Hey, I'd even put money on you fuckin' up."

"Oh you would, huh?"

"Cut it out you two," Markus said sternly. "If I ever hear any more of that childish bickering around here I'll throw you _both_ out. We're here to work and make money. If you two wanna argue, do it on your own time, not mine. Got it?"

Vince and I both shut up like books and pouted bitterly (and perhaps a little childishly) in opposite directions.

"Now," Markus continued. "Getting our numbers up to six cars obviously means all three of you will be going out twice a week instead of once. And of course, that means your pay will be doubling to $600 a week."

"Alright!" Vince and Eyeball grinned, bumping fists.

I was not so pleased, however. Ace promised me he could double the amount I was earning from Keith, and $600 was nowhere near that. I earned $950 most weeks and so was expecting to have two grand slapped in my hand at the end of every week. Boosting cars ain't an easy gig, and I thought I deserved to be paid for the risks I was taking. I stored away a top priority mental note to talk to Ace about this later.

"Any questions?" Markus asked.

Vince, Eyeball and I all shook our heads.

"Great. Ace, roll the dice."

Ace took a dice from a collection of junk in a basket on the bench and threw it. "Five. Lewiston."

"Lewiston it is – let's get a move on."

"Actually," Ace cut in on Markus, "I'll drive them out tonight."

The usual routine was for Markus to drive the other three out of town, drop them all off so they could acquire a vehicle each, and then drive home. As far as Markus was aware, the only change to that routine would be me going with them instead of Ace.

"You're supposed to be keeping a low profile, remember?" Markus objected. "Like we talked about."

"I wanna make sure Cass is OK on her first time."

"Well, if you think she can't do the job on her own, then-"

"Just shut the fuck up and gimme your keys."

Markus huffed before pulling his keys from his pocket and tossing them across the room for Ace to catch. Markus owned about five different vehicles, none of which were known to the police, and so all of them were useable for these types of outings – unlike Ace's.

"Shotgun!" yelled Eyeball, tossing his empty bottle in the trash before diving out the door in front of Vince. Vince hurriedly downed the last of his drink before tossing the empty bottle and darting outside to challenge Eyeball for the front-seat position.

"You watch your back out there, Ace," Markus warned. He tossed his bottle in the trash too before heading through to the garage, leaving Ace and I alone in the trailer.

"What did he mean by that?" I asked curiously. "Why do you need to keep a low profile?"

"We need to get going."

* * *

**2**

Eyeball sat smugly in the front seat of Markus's white four-door '57 Buick while Vince pouted from the back. I smirked at their sibling-rivalry-like behavior. It was always funny watching them try to outdo each other. However, Vince was probably pouting about losing out on the front seat because that meant he'd have to sit next to me.

It was a 40 mile drive from Castle Rock to Lewiston; that's roughly an hour's drive for those who abide by the speed-limit… half an hour for Ace. I slipped in next to Vince and behind Eyeball while Ace took the wheel. He drove us through the back roads and then out onto the main highway towards Lewiston.

"Hey," Vince said to me, leaning in close to my ear so the other guys wouldn't hear. The V8 engine was rather loud and so that helped keep our conversation discreet. "I meant what I said about putting money on you fucking up tonight."

"What?" I screwed my nose up at him. "Piss off."

"Ten bucks says you can't get a car back to that garage tonight without something going wrong."

I hated Vince with a vengeance. He'd been picking on me since day one and showed no signs of letting up. But he did have one good use: he put fire in my belly. My guts suddenly glowed like a red-hot furnace, burning up every last trace of nerves and driving me forward to prove myself.

"I'm amazed you've got anything left to bet _with_ after all the drinks you had to buy everyone after I kicked your ass at pool," I teased.

"Fuck you – let's do twenty then."

"Twenty measly dollars?" I mocked him. "Is that all you got? Let's do a hundred… and the loser has to kiss the winner's feet." I thought upping the ante that high would be too much for him and he'd back off, leaving me looking like the gutsier one… but it kinda backfired.

"Fuck, you're on," he sniggered, firmly bumping my shoulder with his. "I'll make sure I do heaps of walking tonight; get 'em nice and tasty for ya."

_Eww… _OK – now I felt ill again, but for entirely different reasons.

About half-way to Lewiston, Ace slowed the car down and pulled over to the side of the deserted highway. The engine quietly rumbled around us as he turned sideways in his seat so he could see us all. Vince and Eyeball gave each other looks of uncertainty as the seriousness of Ace's expression became apparent by the light of the dashboard.

"You guys remember Kyle Jefferson?" he asked them.

"Yeah, of course," they both nodded their heads.

"I nearly killed him last night for doing that to her."

"_He_ did that? Mongrel…" Eyeball huffed, shaking his head in disgust. "So, did you get into a fight with him and Cass tried to break it up?"

"That was just a cover story," Ace clarified. "And it's the only story Markus or anybody else who asks needs to know. You don't mention Kyle's name or anything else I'm about to tell you, to anyone – you got that?"

They nodded their heads, both of them as loyal as the day is long.

"So what really happened?" Vince asked.

"I took Cass out for a demo last night – you know, show her the ropes and how it's done – and the car I stole just happened to be Kyle's. Things went pear shaped from there and Cass ended up getting hurt."

Vince glared accusingly at me. He assumed the whole thing had been my fault. After all, things never turn pear shaped when Ace does them alone. Vince could almost smell the money now; I could see a slight smugness in his eyes.

"I couldn't let him get away with it, so I took the car back and used it as bait to track him down. He didn't realize it at the time, but there's no doubt he'll work out it was me who stole it. You guys know the history between him and me, and Kyle will know I didn't go all the way to Chamberlain to steal a car to take it joy riding."

"He'll think you're still selling…" Vince said, realization flooding his expression.

"And I am. Problem is, once he's feeling better and starts functioning again, he's gonna call up every douchebag he knows in every surrounding town, tell them his sob story and get them to help fight his cause. He'll tell them to be on the lookout for me, you guys and the rest of the Cobras. He'll tell them to watch our movements, take photos, or do whatever they can to collect evidence about what we're doing. Once Kyle thinks he's got enough to tip off the cops, he'll do it. And that's when our _real_ problems will start."

"How do you know he'll do all of this?" I asked. "There's some big assumptions being made here…"

"Because I know him. And he did that exact thing to someone else just a couple of years back. He's a fucking snitch."

"Fuck… we gotta be real careful then," Eyeball said.

"Don't hang around places with too many people and don't go near the town-centers," Ace continued. "If anyone sees your faces, they'll follow you. This is where Cass has an advantage; nobody knows her and I bet Kyle won't mention her to anyone. He won't want the world knowing about what he did to her. But you guys need to watch your backs at every step when you're on the job."

Both Vince and Eyeball nodded, accepting the situation. There was no talk of pulling out because the risks had become too high; neither of them even thought that. I admired their dedication, loyalty and trust in their friend and leader.

As for me, I may have had the advantage of being the 'unknown', but that didn't mean I was safe. None of us mentioned it, but we were all thinking it - the best revenge Kyle could get on Ace was through me.

* * *

**3**

It wasn't long before we finally hit Lewiston (or Lewiston-Auburn) which is the second largest town in the state after Portland. Lewiston is south of Castle Rock, and a set of train tracks run straight through both towns, connecting them. A river separates the twin cities Lewiston and Auburn, each which are working man's towns by day and one big teen playground by night.

Department stores and fast-food restaurants line the streets, but the popular hang-outs are the drive-in diners, dance halls and movie theatres. It's the cars and the swagger that creates the atmosphere though, and anyone under the age of 21 can't help but be drawn to it… unless you're square or something. Boss cars, hot rods, drag races in the streets, cars full of girls cruising the strip looking for a good time and cars full of guys looking to get laid.

Having lived in Portland since I was a kid, I'd travelled up to Lewiston many times to bask in it all. Familiar sights surrounded me and I felt myself blushing as I reminisced on both the good and the embarrassing memories. At least my first time would be in a town I knew – Ace's throw of the dice had given me a lucky advantage.

We dropped Eyeball off on the outskirts of Auburn before travelling over the bridge and into Lewiston. Ace skimmed the edge of the inner city and pulled up in a quiet neighborhood to drop off Vince next. I wanted to sit in the front and so climbed out of the car just as Vince did.

"Don't forget, we've got a bet on," he reminded me, roughly brushing my shoulder as we crossed paths.

"Oh, I haven't…" I snapped back.

I jumped into the front passenger's seat and we continued on to the south edge of the city center. We soon drove into a quaint neighborhood with tidy housing and nicely mowed lawns, and Ace parked up on the side of the street.

"You ready to do this?" he asked, his eyes habitually scanning around outside to stake out the area.

"Yep," I nodded confidently, still hearing Vince's voice ringing in my head.

"Good. So what do you remember from what I taught you last night?"

"OK… umm… go for something where the driver's door is hidden from most people's view. Think about where people could be wandering. Get a car that's in good condition and is reasonably fast."

"Yeah, not bad," he nodded, "but there's one important thing you missed."

"Umm…" I bit the corner of my bottom lip. "Something about… umm… Wear gloves?"

Ace cuffed me over the back of the head… hard.

"Ow! What the…?"

"Check your gas," he said, glaring at me like it was the most obvious thing in the world and I was a complete moron for overlooking it. "I'm driving straight back to Castle Rock tonight, and so if you get stranded, I'm not gonna be around to rescue you."

"OK, you've made your point," I huffed, rubbing the back of my skull to soothe the sting. "Damn… you didn't need to fucking-"

"Now you won't forget."

"Asshole…" I murmured. But I couldn't stay mad at him for long because bigger problems had just emerged on the road up ahead.

Ace saw them first. He suddenly froze like a statue and silently gazed out the windscreen into the darkness. I followed his line of sight, curious about what had captured his attention. A cop car had stopped at the intersection that was just 30 feet in front of us. There was no other traffic around, but the two officers didn't drive on. They just sat there, gazing down every street and surveilling the area.

"Oh shit…" I whispered; a natural first reaction to seeing the police when you're up to no good.

"Get the fuck down!" Ace suddenly roped his arm around my neck and pulled me to lay down with my head in his lap.

"Hang on a minute…" I said, the actuality of the situation dawning on me. "What are we worried about? We're just sitting here…"

"Shit… they've spotted us. Stay down."

High beams lit up the interior of our car like it was daytime. They had turned into our street and were crawling at a snail's pace towards us, obviously trying to get a good look in. It seemed to take eons for them to pass, but once the light faded, Ace let me up. We looked out the back window and saw them switch off their high beams before continuing on their way.

"Fuck, I think one of them recognized me," he said. "You'd better go."

"Wait… I don't understand. We're not doing anything wrong."

"We don't have to be. Just being parked up here and doing nothing would've looked suspicious as fuck." Ace stared into his side mirror to keep an eye on the cop car until it turned down the next street.

"Is there… something you're not telling me? Has this got anything to do with Markus warning you to keep a low profile?" I'd sensed Ace's reluctance to talk about that earlier and so spoke vigilantly even though I was burning to find out.

"Cass, you gotta go right now. They'll probably lap the block and come back, and I don't wanna risk you being seen out here with me. Yeah, I gotta keep my head down, but _you_ need to stay completely off the radar. You're the one person they would never suspect in a million years to be doing this shit and we're gonna keep it that way."

"OK…" I still felt totally in the dark about what was going on, but I was sold by the idea of staying off the radar. "So, I guess I'll go then…" I opened the door and went to slip out, but Ace suddenly slung his arm around my neck and roped me in for a quick good luck kiss.

"One last word of advice: Always listen to your instincts, 'cos you can guarantee they'll be screaming at you when you're about to do something stupid."

Funnily enough, my instincts hadn't stopped screaming at me since we arrived in town.

"I will. Thanks." I climbed out of the car and stood on the sidewalk, watching as he drove off in the opposite direction to the cops and soon disappeared from my sight.

I took off like a bull at a gate. I wanted to get this over with as quickly and as painlessly as possible. I knew that if I stopped to think about what I was doing, even for a moment, I'd get cold feet and chicken out. So, I jammed my fists in my pockets, set my sights on completing the job, and strode towards town.

This city had money; the evidence was all around me, parked in driveways and on the sides of each street I walked down. Every one of those cars would've met Ace's standards and been very easy to steal… but something held me back from going for one. These cars were all family wagons, and a little voice inside kept telling me I could do better. That voice's name was Greed and it had its own agenda.

As I kept up my swift stride, the houses became fewer and I was soon looking into used car lots and parking buildings. Now that I was on the edge of town, the risks were rapidly increasing. There were people everywhere, cars were driving the streets in every direction, and I even saw a couple of cop cars in the distance.

But I was not deterred. Every time I felt doubt, anxiousness or fear peek their heads in, I'd shut that door and lock them out. I now realized that I could suppress these feelings in exactly the same way as I could suppress the memories with Kyle… and maybe even with Lewis. It was all in my head and I had just learnt how to retain control of my thoughts. The key was to not think at all.

Loud music from a live band caught my attention. I followed the sounds and ended up down a side street, outside Lewiston High School. The music poured out of every crack and window of the main hall, with the sounds of saxophones, stand-up bass and guitar covering _Rock Around the Clock_. It seemed to be hosting a school dance.

The school was laid out with a two-story brick hall placed symmetrically in the center of a huge block of land with the parking lot out front. The rest of the buildings and classrooms were behind that, out of my sight, and the entire perimeter of the school was bordered with an 8 foot high chain link fence.

The parking lot was jam packed with the most mouthwatering selection I'd seen that night. I grinned with glee, feeling like I'd just hit the jackpot. It was as if folks had decided to go all out, and taken their pride and joys out of their protective garages for the night and driven them here for this occasion. Maybe this was a more important event than a school dance. Who knew? I certainly didn't care. All that was fixed in my visions was an older style car that stood out from the crowd. It was a gleaming red two-door with whitewalls, a split windscreen and an ass to die for. Quite frankly, it was the hottest thing in the parking lot. A few days earlier, when I had imagined bringing in something super-special to prove to Markus that he was wrong about me, this was exactly what I had in mind.

I strode through the wide gates and into the parking lot like a woman possessed. The best thing about this situation was that there was absolutely nobody outside; everyone was inside jiving and having a good time.

My new car was nicely seated in the center of the mass of vehicles and I headed straight for it; no dillydallying. I felt the adrenaline oozing through my system like the flood gates of my adrenal glands had been opened. It was pouring through me so thick I could taste it. My heart was beating so hard I could feel it throbbing in my eardrums. I reached the gleaming red beauty and took a swift glance towards the hall. Through the huge doorway I could clearly see everyone inside bopping the night away, dressed in their suits and poodle skirts. It would've been easy for someone to look out and see me, but I ignored that thought and promptly slipped on my gloves.

I whipped my tension wrench and pick from my back pocket and poked them both in the keyhole. The adrenaline and clear headed focus was making me move faster than what seemed humanly possible. I must've had that lock picked in three seconds flat. I carefully pulled the door open and slipped into the incredibly comfortable leather interior before sticking my tools into the ignition. After another three seconds I felt my tension wrench turn all the way and I heard the starter fire.

"Ha-ha!" I cried, jumping up and down in my seat. Although, there was one slight problem. Not only had I picked the hottest car in the parking lot, I'd picked the loudest. As soon as I touched my foot to the gas, the V8 engine spat out a roar as loud as a hot rod on a drag strip.

My eyes went wide with horror. The ice cold coolness that had kept me calm all this time suddenly melted, leaving me feeling chaotic and in disarray. Unable to think straight any longer, I went into panic mode. I threw the car into reverse and backed out of the parking strip, all the way out onto the quiet street. Luckily there weren't any cars coming because I sure as hell didn't stop to look. I threw the car into gear and peeled out, likely rousing some attention from the school hall. But if people had looked outside to investigate the commotion, they wouldn't have seen me; I was long gone.

* * *

I still had enough wits about me to assume that this car was well known in town, and so I took the back roads through Lewiston. I still had to take a tense ride over the northern bridge to get into Auburn, but from there it was easy to skim through the back roads until I reached the country highway that would take me home.

My lungs filled with a deep breath of relief as I flew past the 'You are leaving Lewiston-Auburn' sign. The hard part was over. Now I just had to get this baby back. A grin formed as I took a small moment to bask in my accomplishment. _Vince is gonna be pissed! And the look on his face when he sees this beauty is gonna be priceless._

"You sure are a beautiful car," I said to it, stroking the dashboard like a pet pussy cat.

As the '15 miles to Castle Rock' sign came and went I beamed with nervous excitement.

"Oh yes, so so beautiful. Come on baby, just a few more miles."

And then, as if Karma herself had decided to make a late appearance, the engine began to judder every few seconds, shaking the entire car.

"What are you doing?" I asked it, frozen with sudden worry as everything vibrated around me. There was definitely something wrong with the engine but I didn't have a clue what. "Come on baby; just another few miles… please? I'll make sure they take good care of you…"

It heard every word I said, but showed me no mercy. In fact, it threw two middle fingers up at me, spat and coughed for a few seconds, and then spitefully slowed to roll before dying right there on the side of the road.

"Fuck!" I screamed at it, pounding both fists on the wheel. I jammed my picks in the ignition again and tried the starter, but it blatantly refused me. "Come on, this isn't fair! What the fuck's wrong with you all of a sudden?"

And then it answered me loud and clear. I frowned down at the dashboard to see the needle of the gas gauge sitting on empty. In my mad panic, I'd forgotten to check the gas.

* * *

**Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter CastleRockGirl and Chailyn Kamaria :)**  
**And a special thanks to my beta reader Phedrelora :)**

**The next chapter is almost ready to publish; it was originally part of this chapter, but with five scenes it was getting a bit long so I broke them into two chapters. I'm trying to push the work out a bit faster now because I'd really like to make some good progress on this before the end of the year. Anyway, I hope you're all still enjoying what I'm putting out. I've only scratched the surface of what I have planned. As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts :)**


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